Where Asbestos Can be Found: A Brief History

Asbestos has been useful to humans for thousands of years. Archaeologists discovered that asbestos was mixed into clay pots made in Finland in 2500 BC. Ancient documents have been found that describe asbestos fibers being used for everlasting lamp wicks and to weave shrouds for wrapping bodies for cremation. The first real industrial application began with textiles from Italy in the early nineteenth century.

The United States has embraced asbestos in commercial use since the late 1800s. Asbestos use grew as the Industrial Revolution came to full maturity with mass production techniques and new demands for friction products, such as brake shoes and clutches for automobiles. Demand and production fell off during the Great Depression of the 1930s, but World War II brought another boost to the use of asbestos for thermal insulation and fire prevention, among many other uses. Through the 1950s and '60s, asbestos continued to be heavily used for its many advantages. It was integrated in more than 3,000 different commercial and domestic products. It was light, fireproof, strong, insulating (both thermally and electrically), and mixed well with a number of other building materials.

A 1984 survey by the Environmental Protection Agency found friable asbestos (susceptible to releasing its fibers into the air) in 42 of the agency's own 270 buildings. In 1988, the EPA found asbestos in at least 700,000 public and commercial buildings across the country, more than a half million of them with damaged (friable) asbestos.