A Brief History of Asbestos | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror

"On the 14th of March, 1924, an English textile worker named Nellie Kershaw passed away after several years of ill health..."
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
00:47 - A Brief History of Asbestos
04:57 - The Dangers of Asbestos
07:04 - Asbestos Today
MUSIC:
► "Glass Pond" by Public Memory
► "Nocturnally" by Amulets
SOURCES:
► "History of asbestos related disease" by P Bartrip, published by Postgrad Medical Journal, February 2004. Available via: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
► "Asbestos Cover-Up" by Michelle Whitmer, published by Asbestos.com. Link: www.asbestos.com/featured-sto...
► "The Global Spread of Asbestos" by Arthur L Frank and TK Joshi, published by Annals of Global Health, August 2014. Available via: www.sciencedirect.com/science...
► "Asbestos in Scotland" by Thomas Gorman, Ronnie Johnston, Arthur McIvor and Andrew Watterson, published by the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, January 2012. Available via: web.archive.org/web/201708101...
​​​​​​​#Documentary​​​​ #History​​​​​​​​​ #TrueStories​

Пікірлер: 1 300

  • @484berkshire
    @484berkshire8 ай бұрын

    I think it's an especially cruel fate that something so useful, easy to work with, AND naturally occurring is also so ridiculously dangerous.

  • @lowtechredneck6704

    @lowtechredneck6704

    8 ай бұрын

    No kidding, it went from a wonder substance that would speed economic development while theoretically saving many lives to a de-facto toxic substance that costs hundreds of billions to clean up, renders some natural sites potentially harmful, and is too expensive to even use responsibly except possibly in nuclear reactors.

  • @idonomaeatomoku9322

    @idonomaeatomoku9322

    8 ай бұрын

    Life sucks and then you die.

  • @jelyfisher

    @jelyfisher

    8 ай бұрын

    It had some really cool uses too. Like cremation blankets.

  • @Trump985

    @Trump985

    8 ай бұрын

    Asbestos isn’t as dangerous as you think. Sure breathing in asbestos dust all day long for years will most likely kill you prematurely, so will breathing in sand or rock dust. As long as you control the dust or wear a respirator when creating asbestos dust then it’s a perfectly safe substance to use. Just like lead and mercury the dangers are blown out of proportion. None of these things are dangerous unless you create a bunch of dust or fumes and breath them in, or eat them.

  • @pickles3128

    @pickles3128

    8 ай бұрын

    "If it sounds too good to be true..." (Cue the Tomorrowland song 'Miracles from Molecules' over footage of Thalidomide / Agent Orange birth defects / mesothelioma lungs)

  • @QT5656
    @QT56568 ай бұрын

    I'm glad you mentioned Pliny and the Romans. It's amazing how many people don't appreciate this long history of suspicion over Asbestos.

  • @corneliusthecrowtamer1937

    @corneliusthecrowtamer1937

    8 ай бұрын

    it really is amazing

  • @kayleighgroenendal8473

    @kayleighgroenendal8473

    8 ай бұрын

    So you probably think about the Roman Empire often, huh? 😜😏

  • @QT5656

    @QT5656

    8 ай бұрын

    @@kayleighgroenendal8473 well played. 👏

  • @Snezzleify

    @Snezzleify

    8 ай бұрын

    Tell ya what! Didn’t know asbestos’s usage was that ancient! I learned a thing or two tonight!

  • @diligentcircle

    @diligentcircle

    8 ай бұрын

    I'm not sure if I actually believe that ancient people knew of the dangers of asbestos. While often stated, I've never heard anyone present an actual quote where an ancient person supposedly documented that there was a hazard, and it doesn't make a lot of sense to me that there would be only one source for the information if it was known by the ancient Romans (let alone one source that seemingly no one can track down). There's also the fact that asbestos extraction in ancient times would have been much smaller-scale than industrial asbestos extraction. Asbestos was very clearly a rare and exotic material back then, to the point that a lot of people didn't even understand that it came from rocks (lots of people referred to it as "salamander wool", for example, or thought it was some sort of plant). This would mean that asbestos disease must have been quite rare in ancient times, and combined with the fact that asbestos disease has a long latency period and can easily be mistaken for many other diseases, it would have been difficult to link deaths to asbestos exposure at the time.

  • @teaoclock9080
    @teaoclock90808 ай бұрын

    My father-in-law died of mesothelioma a few years back. He went from the best shape of his life to having a persistent cough to incapacitated to dead terrifyingly fast - even with catching it as early as possible and undergoing experimental treatments (including surgery on his lungs), he only made it a couple of years. His dad was a builder, and it's most likely the asbestos exposure was from dust brought home on his clothes. It would have been his 60th birthday today, but being the child of a builder in the 1960s and 1970s meant he didn't get there.

  • @lock386

    @lock386

    8 ай бұрын

    I would be surprised if there wasn't a family in Australia that didn't have a member experience asbestos induced mesothelioma. The stuff was everywhere unfortunately. Grandad was trucker in the 60s and 70s and would transport the stuff all the time and had a similar fate. He was a great man and managed to make it to 72. Condolences for your father mate.

  • @littlemisstentoes

    @littlemisstentoes

    8 ай бұрын

    I'm sorry for your and your families loss. It's so crazy and heartbreaking to hear how fast he went downhill.

  • @mrjjman2010

    @mrjjman2010

    8 ай бұрын

    Really only the last handful of years that safety culture has taken off it seems like. I’m happy to see it. My father had COPD that contributed to his decline from wood dust. I’m really glad it’s in the forefront of the minds of people that do the work these days. Even trying to get people to be more careful in some situations is like pulling teeth, but now it’s no longer thought of as some weakness to use PPE. Very very happy to see it. Even people that know they will face problems often used to not wear protection because they felt it weak or didn’t feel like they would be one of the people to get sick. I’m glad it’s now the thing to do and people not using it are looked at as being stupid.

  • @TDurden527

    @TDurden527

    8 ай бұрын

    The main take away on a story like this, which is all too common, is that business' and politicians who are in a position to profit are perfectly willing to murder men, women, and children. Always remember, never trust your government or business'. Many of them will kill you to make money.

  • @bladergroen

    @bladergroen

    8 ай бұрын

    I'm so sorry for your loss.

  • @krognak
    @krognak8 ай бұрын

    Asbestos is like the Midas touch of substances. A gift but a curse. So many amazing uses but so much damage.

  • @ungabunga7879

    @ungabunga7879

    8 ай бұрын

    Yep, its crazy how it seems some of the most useful materials the earth gives us, happen to be some of the most dangerous, and unusable due to the risks attached.

  • @davidmcgill1000

    @davidmcgill1000

    8 ай бұрын

    Almost like it should've been respected as a useful but deadly substance. With proper precautions it should be fine, but people cut any corner they can to be more lazy.

  • @kenosabi

    @kenosabi

    7 ай бұрын

    Laziness is a factor. A bigger one is money. It takes money to do things the right way and people will save that sht where ever and when ever they can.

  • @lachlankeddie7
    @lachlankeddie78 ай бұрын

    For me, as an Australian, asbestos is inexorably tied to the James Hardie Corporation, which fought in court to deny its former workers compensation for the respiratory diseases that they contracted through their work with asbestos as recently as the mid 2000s...

  • @belindaf8821

    @belindaf8821

    8 ай бұрын

    My auntie's father-in-law worked for James Hardie and died of mesothelioma. He was part of the legal battle for compensation even before he got sick himself, but by the time he got the money he was almost dead. It still didn't even begin to make up for the suffering he and his family went through 😔James Hardie are so evil for doing what they did, they knew that their products were dangerous and decided that profit was more important than lives. I reckon we'll see this happen again with engineered stone giving people silicosis.

  • @sadmermaid

    @sadmermaid

    8 ай бұрын

    Is that CSR?

  • @brianedwards7142

    @brianedwards7142

    8 ай бұрын

    Different company but same class action.@@sadmermaid

  • @jed-henrywitkowski6470

    @jed-henrywitkowski6470

    8 ай бұрын

    That recently!? Wow, just wow.

  • @daffers2345

    @daffers2345

    8 ай бұрын

    In my part of the United States, it was Armstrong. They made flooring and ceiling tiles and were a HUGE company back in the day. I believe the same thing happened with them fighting in court, around the same era, and I remember hearing news stories about it. :(

  • @billdagrasshawking
    @billdagrasshawking8 ай бұрын

    I am a the field supervisor for an asbestos abatement company operating in Canada. I have over 20 years experience, this is probably the most informative collection of information I have ever found on one place. A lot of the training materials we are provided are very dated and poorly produced. Congratulations on a job well done.

  • @Megadextrious
    @Megadextrious8 ай бұрын

    Oh man I have a story! When I was 19 I worked at a Petsmart and I had an elderly woman that came in regularly. She was always so sweet and we bonded because we both had little old dogs named “Muffin”. After about a year of seeing her come in to shop and getting to know each other, one day she comes in and just drops a bombshell; she tells me that she had been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and her daughter would be taking care of her Muffin from now on. She basically said she didn’t have very much longer.. i didn’t even know what to say so I just hugged her and we wept. It was so incredibly sad 😞I never saw her again after that day, but I sure do remember her. My Muffin doggy passed peacefully about 10 years ago now and I hope that our little dogs are in heaven playing together.

  • @oneset6545

    @oneset6545

    8 ай бұрын

    ❤ Amen 🙏

  • @rionthemagnificent2971

    @rionthemagnificent2971

    8 ай бұрын

    That's a sad story, A lot of the "Greatest" and "Silent" generations were exposed to it without even knowing the risks. The brave men and women who were in the Navy in ww1, ww2, and Korea were exposed to that nasty stuff. Though their sacrifices in working with Abestos has lead into innovation into making alternatives of Abestos. Now we have heat proof ceramics in the steel industry, which once had abestos lined kilns. (My first stepdad worked in such of a Mill, the EPA had to come in to oversee the demolition of the mill due to the abestos, lead, and other toxins that was all over the plant grounds The heat took a toll on the man as he died from bone cancer. Though i think its Kharmic retribution as he was a real jerk to me and my male relatives, we believed he was a closet pedophile.)

  • @ptonpc

    @ptonpc

    8 ай бұрын

    It's a horrible way to go.

  • @yolsil775

    @yolsil775

    8 ай бұрын

    God damn, man.

  • @ltipst2962

    @ltipst2962

    8 ай бұрын

    You're a good person.

  • @linzi94
    @linzi948 ай бұрын

    My dad died from mesothelioma in 2018, he was a triathlete and very fit and active until about 2 years before he died. He was a maintenance electrician and got exposed because of poor health and safety regs. This stuff was used in artex in thousands if not millions of houses. Be careful in your own home.

  • @lgannawa

    @lgannawa

    8 ай бұрын

    Asbestos stole my father in 2015. I’m sorry for your loss.

  • @djm5687

    @djm5687

    8 ай бұрын

    My sympathies

  • @djm5687

    @djm5687

    8 ай бұрын

    ​@@lgannawaMy deepest sympathy

  • @KlaunFuhrer-du7fr

    @KlaunFuhrer-du7fr

    8 ай бұрын

    my dad got throat cancer in 2020. he never smoked a cigarette...

  • @jonslg240

    @jonslg240

    8 ай бұрын

    This video is like 20 years too late lol

  • @jst7714
    @jst77148 ай бұрын

    For reference, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were some of the last buildings completed with asbestos in NYC. And by completed, they mean stuffed with asbestos- right down to the vinyl floor tiles. That adds an extra layer of horror to the giant dust clouds that took over lower Manhattan on 9/11/01. Also, the superliner SS United States was finished with copious amounts of asbestos to the point the ship was effectively fireproof. Lastly, I used to work in a mall built in the 70s. I’d typically go to Sears at least once a week to check out the sales… until the store closed and was roped off for asbestos abatement.

  • @kekistanimememan170

    @kekistanimememan170

    7 ай бұрын

    3000 people died on 9/11 as of 2022, 3400 have died since from cancer with 20,000 first responders alone thought to be affected.

  • @BritanniaPacific

    @BritanniaPacific

    7 ай бұрын

    @@kekistanimememan170343 firefighters that have responded have since died, equaling the amount who died in the attacks itself

  • @octopusprod
    @octopusprod8 ай бұрын

    As someone from Quebec, where there is a town called Asbestos (the largest mine in Canada for it), i can confirm the dark legacy left behind by its use.

  • @Sideshownicful

    @Sideshownicful

    8 ай бұрын

    There was a town named Asbestos. Even after the mine was shut down, they didn't want to change their name because in Quebec, Asbestos doesn't mean anything. The French word is "Amiante". After the mine closed, the mayor went on a business trip to the US to try and get contracts for the other (non-asbestos related) businesses in town. No one even wanted to touch their business cards, since asbestos had such a negative connotation. The town voted and changed their name to Val-des-Sources.

  • @kdawson020279

    @kdawson020279

    8 ай бұрын

    Russia has a city named Asbest, which is an open pit mine for it as well. Similar legacy.

  • @bethstaley467

    @bethstaley467

    8 ай бұрын

    I hate Kabek. JK, Letterkenny joke. Sounds like time for a name change, though. That'd be like living in Carcinogen, Wherever.

  • @gracewsho

    @gracewsho

    8 ай бұрын

    Tom Scott has an interesting video on this!

  • @dillonhillier

    @dillonhillier

    8 ай бұрын

    I was on a tasking with the CAF and a warrant from asbestos, qc told me there had never been a case of mesothelioma there. I wonder if true 🤔

  • @wrenpontbriand4173
    @wrenpontbriand41738 ай бұрын

    My step dad served in the navy in the 70s. He died of mesothelioma in 2017. It was so hard watching his die in slow motion. As the cancer progressed his lungs stopped working. Towards the end he had 1/4 of his lung working. You could even see the part of his chest moving where the only part of his lung was functioning.

  • @MoonbeamGardener

    @MoonbeamGardener

    8 ай бұрын

    That is so sad. :(

  • @HumansAreShitFactories

    @HumansAreShitFactories

    8 ай бұрын

    That doesn’t make sense.

  • @Richard-zc1cj

    @Richard-zc1cj

    8 ай бұрын

    Did the government help with his medical issues? Did the government give his family any compensation? I'm so sorry for your loss.

  • @cadillacdeville5828
    @cadillacdeville58288 ай бұрын

    You are such a phenomenal narrator.

  • @SUNNYSKYTX

    @SUNNYSKYTX

    8 ай бұрын

    I second that!

  • @samsngdevice5103

    @samsngdevice5103

    8 ай бұрын

    Best comment. Every video produced blows mind.

  • @LittleKitty22

    @LittleKitty22

    8 ай бұрын

    I fully agree! Every video on this channel is just beyond perfect! Respectful, informative, fascinating, extremely well presented - absolutely brilliant!

  • @Straswa

    @Straswa

    8 ай бұрын

    Agreed.

  • @ellipticallyambiguousone7875

    @ellipticallyambiguousone7875

    8 ай бұрын

    ikr, I have seen several other similar channels, but here I find the clearest narative, both in voice and information given.

  • @SerpentNight
    @SerpentNight8 ай бұрын

    A great uncle of mine served aboard the carrier Enterprise in the Pacific theatre and was on duty in the engine room when a kamikaze crashed through the first elevator. The lights went out and pipes with asbestos sealant were bursting all around him. He would eventually die of lung cancer. He lived into his 70s but he never smoked.

  • @idklol4197

    @idklol4197

    8 ай бұрын

    the japs got him eventually

  • @d.adrien7423

    @d.adrien7423

    8 ай бұрын

    Shipbuilding in the first half of the twentieth century dealt with a great deal of asbestos.

  • @eyewideopen9083

    @eyewideopen9083

    8 ай бұрын

    Friend’s mother died of mesothelioma, she was a homemaker with 4 children. Her husband was in the navy, they attributed her asbestos fibre exposure to her laundering and ironing etc of his uniform clothes as a secondary exposure to his time on ships etc.

  • @Crashed131963

    @Crashed131963

    8 ай бұрын

    I think you have to breathe it in over long periods of time , a one time thing should not kill you .

  • @jonyemm

    @jonyemm

    8 ай бұрын

    ​@@Crashed131963you are correct. A one time exposure or even a few breif exposures throughout a lifetime normally wouldnt result in a death cuased by the asbestos. It takes repeated exposure(and inhalation) for it to damage your lungs enough to kill you, though im not sure about the relationship between the number of exposures(inhalation) and mesothelioma. I think many of these claims are due to confirmation bias. Sort of "died from a lung issue? Well, i can connect them to someone who was in contact with asbestos. Must have been asbestos through that person that killed them" type of situations.

  • @Ember3221
    @Ember32218 ай бұрын

    I’ll be celebrating 20 yrs of survival with mesothelioma, in July 2024. Fibers can be ingested, causing other forms of mesothelioma. It can take 25 years to present in a person. I was 24 when it was discovered in my case. Cheap crayons and makeup can contain asbestos, even in the countries that have banned asbestos…

  • @paigeturner7788

    @paigeturner7788

    8 ай бұрын

    Wow, really? I did not know that! I’ll make sure to avoid cheap crayons and make up..thank you for that info. Congratulations on your 20 years! 🎉💐

  • @MegaBrokenstar

    @MegaBrokenstar

    8 ай бұрын

    Tbt to when J&J sold talc they knew was contaminated with asbestos to hundreds of millions of women and parents and we all just kinda… let it go? Honestly, no one knows when exactly they actually fixed it. Most of the information about the scandal was declared “confidential” by a crooked judge. I went to a high school in Ohio when the LeBron baby powder thing at kickoffs was popular, so I was in dozens of dense clouds of the stuff. I really hope that by 2011, it had been fixed.

  • @jelyfisher

    @jelyfisher

    8 ай бұрын

    I'm glad you're a survivor! Wow!

  • @redwaterfilmworks7210

    @redwaterfilmworks7210

    8 ай бұрын

    Hello, that is very impressive and I am glad you have greatly overcome the odds. I was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma almost a year ago. I have undergone chemo, Cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC. As of right now, I am at a C1, no evidence to the human eye. Just had another CT scan it looks clear. I went down to 90 pounds over the summer and had terrible ascites. I am now back to my normal weight and healthy. I believe I can live a longer life with treatment and hopefully one day have kids and a wife. I remain faithful seeing stories like yours. I am 21 years old. Thank you

  • @stigmautomata

    @stigmautomata

    8 ай бұрын

    How did you find out?

  • @specialtymotorcars
    @specialtymotorcars8 ай бұрын

    Long time watcher, first time caller. This hits home for me. My dad (still alive 🙏) worked with asbestos in a factory that used it in making fireproof boards for John Manville. He worked with it for 16 years before they stopped using it. I take every day I have with him still healthy at almost 72 as a gift. I take nothing for granted.

  • @katej23
    @katej238 ай бұрын

    I had an ADHD fixation on asbestos history for a while, but I had no idea about the slaves in Rome! Also, fun fact: Remember that scene in Wizard of Oz where Glinda wakes up Dorothy with the snow? The snow was asbestos! Asbestos was also sold as fake snow for Christmas decorations in retail stores in the 30s and 40s.

  • @tfrowlett8752
    @tfrowlett87528 ай бұрын

    Mesothelioma is no joke, my grandfather’s brother died from it from cutting asbestos sheets for fencing. My grandfather did try e same but never got it, he died of heart failure at 88, his brother at 54.

  • @user-jb9nb7gz7o

    @user-jb9nb7gz7o

    8 ай бұрын

    What kind of exposure do you mean he tried it? Like tried it once or tried the job for a few weeks lol. Just curious because I work with asbestos' cousin, ceramic fibers, ceramic fabric hight temp insulation

  • @tfrowlett8752

    @tfrowlett8752

    8 ай бұрын

    @@user-jb9nb7gz7o his brother cut asbestos sheets for over a decade, my grandfather did it for a few years but mainly worked as a rail inspector, which often involved checking the brake blocks which had asbestos in them and regularly got dust in the air. He did that work for over 40 years and somehow got lucky. Even the autopsy found very little asbestos fibres in his lungs, not enough to cause serious damage.

  • @gazwizz
    @gazwizz8 ай бұрын

    In primary school in the 1980s we had a "nature table" in the classroom. This had all sorts of rocks, plants, bird eggs etc. sort of a show and tell table. I clearly remember there was a big lump of raw asbestos, which the teacher explained had heat resistant properties. I remember all us kids touching the fibres and being fascinated with it. Not knowing the dangers back then as a kid, looking back on it now I'm horrified that the teacher allowed this, since by that decade the dangers of it were well known.

  • @lowtechredneck6704

    @lowtechredneck6704

    8 ай бұрын

    My understanding is that the danger from asbestos in that size, form and quantity is extremely minimal; I'm not saying I agree with her decision to allow it, only that there probably aren't going to be any ill effects down the line for any of the kids, who were probably in more danger from tiny amounts of asbestos dust remaining after previous construction and renovations (including necessary asbestos removal) of the school building.

  • @DARWINZOO

    @DARWINZOO

    8 ай бұрын

    1980? Not in the USA.

  • @mark77193

    @mark77193

    8 ай бұрын

    I remember we had a sample of the blue asbestos in its natural form when I was at intermediate school in the early 90s. But the main hazard came from vandalism of, and alterations to, the school buildings, which were all clad with asbestos sheets made by James Hardie.

  • @mark77193

    @mark77193

    8 ай бұрын

    Also, there was little to no effort made to contain the dust, or use PPE when handling/removing the cement sheets until law changes in 2015 that made it mandatory to use licensed professionals for removal of any area over 10 square metres. The penalties for non compliance are severe. This is in New Zealand.

  • @DARWINZOO

    @DARWINZOO

    8 ай бұрын

    @mark77193 I'll be damned. Whoa we so wouldn't do that in Massachusetts. I wonder if that's because so many houses had asbestos shingle and what we call "snowmen" boilers wrapped in asbestos

  • @cameron398
    @cameron3988 ай бұрын

    Spent my last three years in Germany. Between Abestosos and Lead in the older building it amazed me how common it still was as an issue. They have done wonders with sealing off the containment but it makes you realize we will be dealing with this issues for generations.

  • @rickraptor9936

    @rickraptor9936

    8 ай бұрын

    Same in the Netherlands. I work for an environmental government service that keeps track of pollution and dangerous materials in buildings and soil. Asbestos is still everywhere, and one of the main pollutions people keep careful track of. It's not uncommon to renovate a building and find loads of asbestos in places they didn't even expect. It's clean-up is a massive industry in and of itself.

  • @madkills10

    @madkills10

    8 ай бұрын

    not sure about lead but in Australia lots of houses still contain asbestos wallboards or roof tiles

  • @elilla331

    @elilla331

    8 ай бұрын

    ​@@madkills10Pretty much everything built before 1960 has asbestos something in it. Here in North America well...everything, despite the dangers its still an incredible material. If the dust/fiber issue could be solved you'd see explosive growth in it. When I mean everything, here's the stuff I can remember and what my grandparents and great grandparents passed along. Minus the stuff in the video. Starting with just insulation: pipes, plates, cutting boards, counter tops, gloves, socks, electrical wire, building insulation, high-heat protection for furnaces, boilers, large blowers for barns/factories, etc. Stucco, floor tiles, carpets, wallpaper. Autobody work for heat protection while using lead as body filler(before bondo). All over farm equipment, factories, etc. On and on and on... It's everywhere.

  • @alastairward2774

    @alastairward2774

    8 ай бұрын

    The downpipe from my bathroom going down into the drains below my backyard is an asbestos pipe for whatever reason.

  • @mark77193

    @mark77193

    8 ай бұрын

    In New Zealand and Australia its pretty much everything built/renovated from the 1910s till the early 90s. Sometimes later, I found asbestos cement sheets in a house built in 1996. Was the builder's own home, so would have been new old stock that he'd had in the shed for years. @@elilla331

  • @willxiv
    @willxiv8 ай бұрын

    Just lost my father, who worked many years at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. For seven of those years he worked with asbestos to coat the pipes inside the ships and subs. During the last chapter of his life his lungs were unable to exchange gases properly. He could absorb oxygen, but was having trouble shedding CO2, so there was a steady build-up of CO2 in his blood, slowly causing more and more brain damage and cognitive decline. He’s at peace now, thankfully.

  • @tesspire7760

    @tesspire7760

    23 күн бұрын

    hey im so sorry for ur father😣 he is in heaven! mine dad to….😣how old was he bro…

  • @jdb47games
    @jdb47games8 ай бұрын

    It's eye-opening how long the danger of asbestos has been known, but not widely enough. I remember it was only in the late 1970's that it became common knowledge. At school until then, we happily used crumbling asbestos mats in the science lab!

  • @Truckngirl
    @Truckngirl8 ай бұрын

    Despite regulatory efforts to ban all asbestos products, the brake pad and shoe industry still uses it in some components. The United States Environmental Protection Agency conducted a study in brake repair shops across the nation. The EPA determined shop dust contained an average of 33% asbestos fibers.

  • @shawnmiller4781

    @shawnmiller4781

    8 ай бұрын

    It is still in use as a fire proofing in some specific high temperature applications

  • @lowtechredneck6704

    @lowtechredneck6704

    8 ай бұрын

    @@shawnmiller4781 That actually sounds like a reasonable and responsible use for it, kind of like highly radioactive materials are used for some advanced hospital equipment. Shoes, on the other hand....

  • @sophiaisabelle0227
    @sophiaisabelle02278 ай бұрын

    Asbestos does have a fascinating history behind it. The more we look into this matter, the more credible information we get from it. Pretty amazing, I must say.

  • @personzorz

    @personzorz

    8 ай бұрын

    You talk like chatgpt

  • @DropBear69
    @DropBear698 ай бұрын

    I only recently discovered this channel, and I must say I'm extremely impressed with the range of topics, the quality of research, the production quality, and the clear and concise narration. The episode length is also excellent. A job well done by the entire team behind the channel. Cheers.

  • @daffers2345

    @daffers2345

    8 ай бұрын

    This is one of my favorite channels! His calm narration and choice to stick to the facts make it so much better.

  • @kathleensmith8336

    @kathleensmith8336

    8 ай бұрын

    Welcome. The Nutty Putty Cave episode is my favorite.

  • @elliottprice6084
    @elliottprice60848 ай бұрын

    I never knew that asbestos was used in ancient times. I had always known it was dangerous due to members of my family being exposed to it and later dying from health issues relating to it. Another excellent video from FH

  • @tesspire7760

    @tesspire7760

    23 күн бұрын

    they died young 😔?

  • @brendanwilliams7291
    @brendanwilliams72918 ай бұрын

    As a result of Australian production of asbestos being banned in 2003, this led to the former asbestos mining town of Wittenoom in Western Australia being closed down and taken off the map, the town has all but disappeared and become crown land. Good job.

  • @kurotsuki7427

    @kurotsuki7427

    8 ай бұрын

    Not sure i would want to live there myself. Feels a bit like living in one of the toxic towns covered earlier on the channel.

  • @informationgatherer4970

    @informationgatherer4970

    8 ай бұрын

    ​@@kurotsuki7427 the last person who was there was evicted near the end of 2022 I think there is a documentary on it from 2019 on KZread 🤔

  • @kurotsuki7427

    @kurotsuki7427

    8 ай бұрын

    @informationgatherer4970 interesting, ive been collecting videos to listen to while doing chores. Thanks for the info, ill look it up!

  • @stevenstice6683

    @stevenstice6683

    8 ай бұрын

    There was a song written about the mine that Wittenoom supported: "Blue Sky Mine" by Midnight Oil.

  • @kurotsuki7427

    @kurotsuki7427

    8 ай бұрын

    @@stevenstice6683 ohhhhh song!

  • @purpleoryx1774
    @purpleoryx17748 ай бұрын

    I am duty-bound to mention the Kuruman (Asbestos) Hills in South Africa and the discovery of mesothelioma in Kimberley, SA, which was covered up by the South African government. The Hills today still have tailings and unhealthy air percentages.

  • @aprilsmith3683

    @aprilsmith3683

    8 ай бұрын

    🇿🇦

  • @Firevine
    @Firevine8 ай бұрын

    My town got hit by a massive tornado a couple of years ago, and it did major damage to one of the oldest school buildings in the county. Repairs got put on a lengthy hiatus due to the discovery of asbestos insulation. There was even talk about scrapping repairs and just demolishing the building due to a) the extent of the damage, and b) the asbestos.

  • @Jared_Wignall
    @Jared_Wignall8 ай бұрын

    It’s amazing how something that was seen as a positive had a lot of negative consequences if exposed to it.

  • @RadioFreeMN

    @RadioFreeMN

    8 ай бұрын

    Oh yeah that almost never happens on this channel all the time

  • @RadioFreeMN

    @RadioFreeMN

    8 ай бұрын

    Not making fun of you, commiserating how the march of progress, careless or otherwise, has killed so many unsuspecting millions throughout history

  • @Vicus_of_Utrecht

    @Vicus_of_Utrecht

    8 ай бұрын

    I agree OP, fire is one bitch we have to live with. Oh, what's that, you weren't talking about fire? How weird...

  • @arturoaguilar6002

    @arturoaguilar6002

    8 ай бұрын

    Just like lead.

  • @IndigoRyu

    @IndigoRyu

    8 ай бұрын

    @@arturoaguilar6002 Or radium.

  • @glidershower
    @glidershower8 ай бұрын

    When I was a 10 y/o, my house was under construction, and at one point the workers left this big pillar of huge glass insulation mattresses stacked on top of each other, right under an _unfinished_ balcony. So a friend of mine dared me to _jump_ off the balcony and over them, and to convonce me, he went in first. Nothing happened to him and he got off fine, so here I go and jumped too. Best fun of my short live so far, then. That was, until my parents caught me and got mad at me and the other kid, but that was nothing to what was coming next a few hours later at bathtime. My entire body got redspots all over and my body swole a bit, rubbing my skin _hurt so much_ with a kind of pain that is just minimally bearable, but one where there was no end in sight for it. From my perspective, it was _eternal._ Spent the next three hours under very warm water in the bathub, scrubbing soap and hair conditioner all over my body every half hour so. I hated glass insulation ever since, even tho I recognize the blessing it represents in insulation. I can't imagine then, how much worse asbestos is in comparison :'(

  • @JasonMcCord-qk3yb

    @JasonMcCord-qk3yb

    8 ай бұрын

    The crazy thing is, asbestos is nothing like fiberglass (like what you jumped into) It’s very soft and smooth, almost silky. You can handle it all day and have no idea that it could ever be a bad thing. I feel for you. I too, had a similar fiberglass experience as a child and went through the agony of having it “removed”. They say pantyhose gets it off your skin, but I sure didn’t know that back then.

  • @bruticus0875

    @bruticus0875

    8 ай бұрын

    Taking a hot bath was the absolute worst thing you could have done. It opens the pores up for the glass to stick in. Just FYI, cold water seals up the pores somewhat while you use soap to wash the glass off gently. I used to put up the insulation sheets on the walmart distro centers in florida. The new guys that came would always have a good laugh b/c I would cover myself in baby powder from head to toe every morning for work. And keep throwing it on in the florida heat. Takes about two days before the new guys come around and wanna borrow some baby powder. And ya, later on Tyvek suits would get more popular. But smaller construction outfits would rarely give a crew of mostly mexicans any surplus equipment. You got a harness, belt, pouch, and spud. And had to pay that back out of your check later. I'm not sure tyvek suits would be viable anyway.

  • @medwayhospitalprotest
    @medwayhospitalprotest8 ай бұрын

    My Uncle Alan was a heart and lung specialist at Bradford Infirmary, who was interviewed about his role helping victims of "asbestosis". There is a documentary somewhere on KZread where he appears alongside a woman mill-worker who was tragically not long for this world. Obviously that being an area with mills that wove asbestos fireproof fabrics he saw a great many of these people. Sadly he was unable to do much to help them.

  • @indigohammer5732

    @indigohammer5732

    8 ай бұрын

    Alice: A fight for life

  • @InteriorDesignStudent

    @InteriorDesignStudent

    8 ай бұрын

    I just watched both parts of her documentary. I felt so bad for her.

  • @medwayhospitalprotest

    @medwayhospitalprotest

    8 ай бұрын

    Yes, really tragic. Makes me so angry. @@InteriorDesignStudent

  • @davekennedy6315
    @davekennedy63158 ай бұрын

    My dads best mate AND the guys poor wife BOTH died due to asbestos! My dads mate worked on the Tube/London Underground and was exposed to the Tube train brake dust. He then came home, overalls still covered in the deadly dust, where his poor wife was exposed by putting the overalls in the wash! They both died leaving their poor son an orphan in his teens! So incredibly sad and so disgusting that it even happened (they both died in the 90s)

  • @ryancollins4832
    @ryancollins48328 ай бұрын

    What perfect timing. A week ago a historical blimp hangar near where I live burned down (Hangar Fire, Tustin, Ca) and it was built during the 1940s with a large amount of asbestos and heavy metal paint. The convective column carried whole chunks of asbestos insulation and heavy metal fumes and scattered them across the area surrounding the hangar (residential area lots of family dwellings) while the agencies involved denied or downplayed the severity. I think in the future it could be a great topic for your channel.

  • @galek75

    @galek75

    8 ай бұрын

    I live in a nearby area and there was surprisingly little done about it. People were standing around near it too.

  • @ceilinh6004
    @ceilinh60048 ай бұрын

    My aunt died of mesothelioma two months before her 50th birthday. She was exposed in her home as a child. (In her early years, the family lived in company housing.) My cousins were 20 and 16 years old when she died.

  • @djm5687

    @djm5687

    8 ай бұрын

    My sympathies

  • @joesantos2455
    @joesantos24558 ай бұрын

    FH just wanted to remind us that we don't even need to leave the comfort and safety of our homes to suffer a horrific, lingering, excruciating demise! #mesothelioma

  • @christinewatson1989

    @christinewatson1989

    8 ай бұрын

    Oh please. What he failed to mention is that even if your home is full of asbestos, it's not a hazard unless you disturb it.

  • @daffers2345

    @daffers2345

    8 ай бұрын

    @@christinewatson1989 Yeah, my dad re-did the floor in the kitchen of their house where we all grew up. There was asbestos underneath, but it was the really dense stuff, not dusty. So he CAREFULLY rolled it up and took it to the hazardous-waste place. Before then, the floor had been redone maybe 3 times in the house's "lifespan" and it was never ripped out before -- they just kept putting new linoleum on top. The kitchen floor was raised about 1/2" from the dining room, with a covered "lip" to avoid trips. I never remember seeing it flat like it is now!

  • @deavacui2825

    @deavacui2825

    8 ай бұрын

    @@christinewatson1989 He did mention it, at 8:41, citing insulation as an example

  • @GenXfrom75
    @GenXfrom758 ай бұрын

    Absolutely sad that such an incredibly useful material just so happens to be insidiously deadly 😢

  • @Louisa.Bowman23
    @Louisa.Bowman238 ай бұрын

    Asbestos was used to make the snow in the Wizard of Oz movie in 1939.

  • @StAlphonsusHasAPosse

    @StAlphonsusHasAPosse

    8 ай бұрын

    That's right, I remember reading it somewhere. Amazing

  • @JC-rs3nh

    @JC-rs3nh

    4 ай бұрын

    this is insane. did we just abandon every other material?

  • @CandGoods
    @CandGoods8 ай бұрын

    Once upon a time in the comics, you had "Human Torch" Johnny Storm touting the fireproof benefits of asbestos from a specially made "Asbestos Room", made for him by Mr. Fantastic so he doesn't burn the place down if he accidentally flames on in his sleep. The original android Human Torch fought a villain named "Asbestos Lady", and Johnny Storm fought a villain named "Asbestos Man". Asbestos Man did appear in a modern comic, depicted as an older man still in costume carting around an oxygen tank, 'cause, y'now, asbestos.

  • @andreacook7431

    @andreacook7431

    8 ай бұрын

    There was a recent Flash story arc like that. Heat Wave is diagnosed with cancer because his Silver Age costume was asbestos.

  • @TheUncleRuckus
    @TheUncleRuckus8 ай бұрын

    There are 6 types of Asbestos and they're all different colors. Personally I've always found the Blue one and the Green one to be the scariest ones as they're so beautiful in color you may accidentally pick them up thinking they were semi-precious or precious stones, especially the Blue one, it has kind of a star burst pattern of blues coming from the center.

  • @Mrsjam96

    @Mrsjam96

    8 ай бұрын

    It sounds pretty

  • @QT5656
    @QT56568 ай бұрын

    My Dad used to build and renovate hospitals so I was educated about asbestos from an early age. Scary stuff. I think this is an excellent overview however I think you should have spent more time on the deliberate misinformation campaign by people making large profits from the asbestos industry (cf. tobacco).

  • @drinkupmeheartysyoho

    @drinkupmeheartysyoho

    8 ай бұрын

    Same with talc/talcum powder. Johnson & Johnson were sued a few years back & lost their case. They knew for decades that it was a known carcinogenic, yet they continued to sell it. Its linked to ovarian & breast cancers. I did an essay in uni & have never touched it since (I didn't like it before!), so when I heard j&j were sued years after, I was pleased they'd lost.

  • @belindaf8821

    @belindaf8821

    8 ай бұрын

    I thought that too. The legal battle for an asbestos manufacturer, James Hardie, in Australia went on for years, until they were finally forced to pay compensation to victims,. We're also having similar battles over engineered stone, because so many people who have been exposed to the dust are dying of silicosis.

  • @jimbailey3705

    @jimbailey3705

    8 ай бұрын

    @@drinkupmeheartysyoho the reason talc is an issue is (if i remember correctly) that it contains some amount of asbestos, right?

  • @ptonpc

    @ptonpc

    8 ай бұрын

    @@jimbailey3705 Yes.

  • @serafine666

    @serafine666

    8 ай бұрын

    ​@@jimbailey3705Yes. Talcum powder is harmless, the issie was that J&J had poor quality control and failed to eliminate enough of the asbestos.

  • @mimsredjelly
    @mimsredjelly8 ай бұрын

    If you or a loved one was diagnosed with Mesothelioma you may be entitled to financial compensation

  • @leonel1717

    @leonel1717

    8 ай бұрын

    How do I look into this

  • @JasonMcCord-qk3yb

    @JasonMcCord-qk3yb

    8 ай бұрын

    @@leonel1717look it up on the internet. Try searching “Mesothelioma class action lawsuit”. Or “Mesothelioma settlement” maybe “Mesothelioma representation”

  • @samdancer101

    @samdancer101

    8 ай бұрын

    I was looking for this comment

  • @ClefairyRox

    @ClefairyRox

    8 ай бұрын

    Comments you can hear

  • @personzorz

    @personzorz

    8 ай бұрын

    Now sing it to the tune of the can can

  • @DisturbingPuppetGaming
    @DisturbingPuppetGaming8 ай бұрын

    When I was in High School (US in the early 90's) they were doing asbestos removal from the school not only during the school year, but also during the school day, just down the hall from where we were having classes. Even at the time I thought that this was incredibly dumb and reckless, and that a few pieces of plastic haphazardly taped up between us and where they were working was nowhere sufficient protection. Absolutely crazy. And as a little side comment - yes, I have had lung issues (2 surgeries), but nothing that could be definitively linked to any potential asbestos exposure when I was in school. Thanks for the videos! You cover so many interesting situations in a very respectful manner.

  • @juneyshu6197
    @juneyshu61978 ай бұрын

    My spouse has worked on autos 55 years, hoods had asbestos, and he did brake work daily. No ill effects. Amazing.

  • @christopherconard2831

    @christopherconard2831

    8 ай бұрын

    Good ventilation helps. I assume he doesn't smoke. The chances of mesothelioma go up dramatically when people are exposed to both cigarette smoke and asbestos fibers.

  • @fb846
    @fb8468 ай бұрын

    I'm from a city named Thetford Mines, Québec. My great grandfather worked all his life for Bell Asbestos Mines ltd as his father and as my grandfather. There wasn't such thing as air filters back then ! My grandfather still has asbestos rocks as decoration in the living room, he's proud of his heritage.

  • @Jinkies.its.Juliet
    @Jinkies.its.Juliet8 ай бұрын

    Asbestos was also banned in South Africa in 2008, I remember when I was in school, around 2012 or so the school decided to remodel an old building on the property. It was built in the 70s and so contained asbestos, half the school grounds were partitioned off and I remember us all wondering why the hell there were men in suits and a huge zone of off-limits.

  • @seandelap8587
    @seandelap85878 ай бұрын

    Always look forward to Tuesday morning when FH drops a video

  • @MusicoftheDamned
    @MusicoftheDamned8 ай бұрын

    06:50 Ah, but of course greed played a part even in this despite the fact that phasing out the use of "nature's mineral miracle" and minimizing its use around people would have already taken a while.

  • @MangaBottle
    @MangaBottle8 ай бұрын

    Check out the song 'Blue Sky Mine' by Midnight Oil, which is specifically about the mining of Blue Asbestos in Australia

  • @evilmushroom6050

    @evilmushroom6050

    8 ай бұрын

    This song kept playing in the back of my head this whole video

  • @Firevine

    @Firevine

    8 ай бұрын

    I like that song well enough, but never listened to it closely enough to know that. Neat.

  • @theironnut_8902
    @theironnut_89028 ай бұрын

    Hey I’m never this early to the party, cheers 🎉

  • @nixie2462

    @nixie2462

    8 ай бұрын

    Welcome!

  • @ianmacfarlane1241

    @ianmacfarlane1241

    8 ай бұрын

    An asbestos party 🥳

  • @bethanygibbins4956
    @bethanygibbins49568 ай бұрын

    My mother, a french teacher of over 30 years in the North West of England, died of Mesothelioma in 2017 so I hugely appreciate you covering this topic. More people need to know how many teachers in the UK are dying just as a result of accidentally being exposed to asbestos in their career. If teachers die of it... Students will also be at risk. I wish more people knew about how little our government are willing to do about it. They have paid for the removal of asbestos from palaces and parliament buildings... But not hospitals or schools or prisons 🙄

  • @EXROBOWIDOW

    @EXROBOWIDOW

    8 ай бұрын

    In the U.S., at least in California, asbestos in schools is a big deal. Every time voters are asked to pass a bond measure to finance education, it seems that earthquake strengthening is near the top of the list, and also asbestos remediation. You would think they'd have fixed all the schools by now.

  • @nthnwls6423

    @nthnwls6423

    7 ай бұрын

    I’m an asbestos surveyor in the UK, other surveyors in my company have found schools using bunsen burner heat mats made of Asbestos cement only a couple years ago.

  • @kathyjones1576
    @kathyjones15768 ай бұрын

    I didn't know asbestos was a natural product, I thought it was man made. This was, indeed, fascinating.

  • @daniellapan232

    @daniellapan232

    8 ай бұрын

    Asbestos and talc are minerals that form close to one another. It's difficult and expensive to try and separate them. Since the early '70s It's alleged that Johnson & Johnson knew that its talcum powder products contained Asbestos, but chose to keep it quiet. Many people, mostly women, began to develop asbestos related illnesses and cancers as a result.

  • @DeeDerry

    @DeeDerry

    8 ай бұрын

    ​@@daniellapan232Exactly, it is so dangerous.

  • @l.faraday8767
    @l.faraday87678 ай бұрын

    My uncle died of mesothelioma. He worked briefly in the mines in Nova Scotia. Canada closed its last two mines in 2011 and completely banned it in 2018.

  • @tesspire7760

    @tesspire7760

    23 күн бұрын

    do u remember how old was he 😔?

  • @doxasophosmoros
    @doxasophosmoros8 ай бұрын

    It looks really cool and soft. It's too bad it's so harmful if it gets into our lungs. Our house in Australia is mostly made of it but I didn't realise it was so soft and could make cloth from it

  • @Probly_a_sweet_potato
    @Probly_a_sweet_potato8 ай бұрын

    My old house in northern Australia had asbestos in the walls, it was harmless then until a cyclone came and pulled our front wall away, exposing it. In a way, we were lucky it was there because we became a priority for the insurance company to fix our house quickly! But I was a headache because three of us were already asthmatics…

  • @Daniel_Plainview_1911

    @Daniel_Plainview_1911

    8 ай бұрын

    😬 that's lucky

  • @LynnetteShelley
    @LynnetteShelley8 ай бұрын

    Thanks for the interesting video. I live in a town that was "built on Asbestos" - back in the day, it was the main industry. There is a former factory here as well as a giant hill on the edge of town that is the remains of the asbestos piles (covered over in grass so as to not break down into dust and cause more of a health risk). The older locals talk about how they used to go sledding on "the white hill" (before it was covered over in grass and people realized it was dangerous).

  • @Lys1998
    @Lys19988 ай бұрын

    That first shot of the floating dust in the intro, haunting

  • @chickenlittle5095
    @chickenlittle50958 ай бұрын

    My tired brain first read the title as ‘assholes’ not ‘asbestos’ lol I need sleep.

  • @AlisonBryen

    @AlisonBryen

    8 ай бұрын

    A Brief History of Assholes looooool!

  • @corey6393
    @corey63938 ай бұрын

    I am glad you mentioned the part about asbestos being OK if left undisturbed. Lots of folks think that anything in the world made with asbestos is going to kill them instantly. Not trying to undermine it's dangerous qualities, but it is best to have the full picture. I know I have been exposed to vermiculite insulation in my work in home remodeling. In fact I have some in my own home. Most of what we see here in the Pacific Northwest came from the Libby, Montana vermiculite mines. Nearly that entire town was saturated with asbestos/vermiculite from the W.R.race mining company. The World Trade center in New York was built with nearly a million pounds of the stuff in the walls and ceilings. Libby and Troy, Montana are still Superfund sites.

  • @maurolara8499
    @maurolara84998 ай бұрын

    My family is from Peru, and my grandfather talked about an event that happened in 1964. Can you make a video about the deadlist crush of football history, el Estadio Nacional Disaster and football riot? Also it would be nice if there was a spanish version. Its hard for my parents or grandparents to understand english.

  • @fuzzymurdermittens
    @fuzzymurdermittens8 ай бұрын

    I was baffled why people would keep using a product that has been known to kill for nearly a century (I didn't know about the Romans), until there was a fire in the circuit panel of a flat I was renting. I didn't even know there'd been a fire - I only knew something was wrong because the hot water was cold. The electrician opened the panel's lid and the entire area around the hot water system's fuse was charred black and the fuse itself a melted wreck, but the asbestos panel did such a good job of containing the fire that it didn't even reach the other fuses on the panel or the back of the panel itself! Damn useful stuff. Then I panicked because the electrician decided to drill through the asbestos panel without any PPE and with me nearby, and the other reason why people keep using asbestos stuff was made clear to me. Sheer boneheaded, short-sighted stupidity. Sigh.

  • @Aonalion
    @Aonalion8 ай бұрын

    This is fascinating, I had no idea asbestos had been in use for so long, for some reason I always thought it was like radium, fairly new and thought to be a miracle substance used for everything!

  • @izstrkv
    @izstrkv4 ай бұрын

    my dad's phd supervisor, who he was very close with, had worked in a warehouse that handled asbestos when he was a teenager in his home country. he was only there for a few months but many years later, he developed mesothelioma and quickly deteriorated before dying at the age of 57. his doctors suspected it was caused by that brief period of exposure to asbestos. my dad was crushed, he went to say goodbye shortly before he passed away and broke down crying at the airport waiting for his flight home because he knew it would be the last time he'd ever see him alive. mesothelioma is a horrible, horrible disease and i feel for his kids who were in high school when he died. it all happened so fast and by the end he was unrecognizable, i can't imagine how traumatic it must be to see a parent suffer like that. on a somewhat unrelated note, my paternal grandfather actually passed away on the 6-year anniversary of my dad's supervisor's death, so december 11 is a dark day for him.

  • @efnissien
    @efnissien8 ай бұрын

    As a teen (in the early 1990's), I worked as a subcontractor on a site where the old Victorian building was being repurposed into a community centre. One day I was tasked with removing some old Victorian bar radiators from one of the main spaces. After putting a pallet truck underneath, cutting the retaining bolts, and prying the first radiator from it's little alcove, I noticed what at first sight looked like a door sized piece of gypsum plasterboard... it then dawned on me that it was a sheet of asbestos. I called the foreman over voiced my concerns. He then 'phoned my boss both stood and hmmm'd and haa'd then left. About five minutes later they came back with a dust mask, a roll of heavy duty bin bags and duct tape. They basically told me 'Well it's a community centre project, and they don't have the money to allow for proper disposal, and of course, the other guys on site will have to be laid off while the work was done and they'd be left out of pocket.' So they told me to keep quiet and take out the asbestos. There were between 10 - 12 sheets that I removed and threw in the skip. I joked about it to my wife and of course she packed me off to the doctor (30 - 40 years being the 'incubation' period) anyway my doctor gave me the all clear. But I've felt like shit about this for years, how my boss was prepared to fuck my life away (and that of my parents and sisters) just to save money. Still, the fact my former boss died of silicosis gives me some sense of justice.

  • @ColdFuse96
    @ColdFuse968 ай бұрын

    My grandfather with lead. My father with asbestos. Me with microplastics 💀

  • @QT5656
    @QT56568 ай бұрын

    Reliably good channel. 👍

  • @kateemma22
    @kateemma228 ай бұрын

    I managed to meet the wonderful Bernie Banton, a mesothelioma sufferer who worked hard on banning it's use in Australia and campaigned until his last days to spread awareness of the dangers of asbestos, including trying to get justice for those like him who contracted asbestos and mesothelioma thanks to James Hardie Industries. We cover in these videos a lot of stories where safety practices and engineering discoveries were written in blood - in this case they're written in inflamed lungs, cancer, and heart disease. RIP Bernie, you were a legend, and I'm proud to be a Parramatta kid like you.

  • @silvermainecoons3269
    @silvermainecoons32698 ай бұрын

    One of my favorite horror movies is Session 9, about a crew of asbestos removers working in an abandoned mental hospital. Definitely worth a watch.

  • @DustyGamma
    @DustyGamma8 ай бұрын

    My mom's cat tended to scratch at a wall textured with the stuff. Horrible irony is, when I was looking in close to determine if it was asbestos, the cat scratched at it, and I got a lung full.

  • @robbinhasseltof4428

    @robbinhasseltof4428

    8 ай бұрын

    Annoying. My neighbours have a cat that shits in my backyard. Also not very pleasant. Not life threating compared to your situation of course, but yeah, cats…

  • @saraquill
    @saraquill8 ай бұрын

    In my city in the early 1990s, there was a big to-do about asbestos in schools, and efforts to remove it. While adults were getter rid of the stuff in my school, we were bussed to a separate, presumably safer school. There was a split schedule to handle the influx of new students and teachers.

  • @adde9506

    @adde9506

    8 ай бұрын

    I distinctly remember a loose tile in my elementary school in the 90s. No one touched it, except for the children who kicked it and were then quickly scolded. At the end of the year, the hallway was sealed off and the flooring removed and replaced. The adults knew, just by the color of the linoleum, that the floor was asbestos.

  • @fffrrraannkk
    @fffrrraannkk8 ай бұрын

    One thing he didn't mention is asbestos was used as one of the first types of cigarette filters. The amount of cancer people were getting back then is absurd.

  • @indigohammer5732

    @indigohammer5732

    8 ай бұрын

    Kent Micronite

  • @christopherconard2831

    @christopherconard2831

    8 ай бұрын

    It was also in the fake snow people sprayed on Christmas trees and around windows. It should be noted that mesothelioma from asbestos is actually rare. But when combined with smoking the chances increase dramatically. Using it in cigarettes was like adding bullets to the cylinder while playing Russian roulette.

  • @fffrrraannkk

    @fffrrraannkk

    8 ай бұрын

    @@christopherconard2831 Yup, the fake snow in Wizard Of Oz was asbestos. If you google images of it you'll see they are completely covered.

  • @eden3734
    @eden37343 ай бұрын

    I work in a laboratory that solely tests materials for asbestos and you wouldn't believe how many schools are full of it. They put it in everything from cabinets to glue. If you are renovating an older home PLEASE be mindful when you pull up the tiles, if at any point you notice the adhesive is blackish yellow, or they are 9x9, stop and have them tested! Also be cautious of any insulating materials, including tape used for water heater and boiler insulation. They can be as high as 30% chrysotile asbestos. If you are working with materials that were made by TSI, such as corrugated metal siding, you want that immediately tested too. They were almost 100% asbestos. Thanks for coming to my TEDTalk.

  • @TheRocketbabydoll
    @TheRocketbabydoll8 ай бұрын

    An exceptional video, asbestosis and mesothelioma are indeed terrifying illnesses. My heart goes out to all those that have suffered, those that are struggling with it now and those yet to be diagnosed.

  • @nancyt2848
    @nancyt28488 ай бұрын

    Thank you for this very informative video. Asbestos is in our local news currently due to the tragic fire of a huge wooden blimp hangar that was built at the start of World War II. This fire and the asbestos it released is going to require a massive cleanup.

  • @thoughtful_criticiser
    @thoughtful_criticiser8 ай бұрын

    I have been exposed to asbestos dust due to a contractors laziness/negligence. They removed pipes covered in asbestos but didn't clean the dust from the cutting of them. There were 40-50 piles of dust all over the attic. As I climbed in I put my hands in piles either side of the hatch. Also my house has asbestos soffits.

  • @ZolaClyde
    @ZolaClyde8 ай бұрын

    This being one of my favorite channels - I very much want to give a boost to Fascinating Horror’s other channel, “Kristian Crow” where they read short stories aloud, some of my favorites too - from Ambrose Bierce to Charlotte Gilman Perkins’ The Yellow Wallpaper, mostly short stories of the perfect length, neither too long or too short. While the relation of the two aren’t noted in FH’s description or channels on the about page, they are on his other channel. If you like Fascinating Horror’s narration, his choices and readings are excellent. So FH has 2 of my favorite channels in separate categories. I think it’s just wonderful.

  • @littlebear274

    @littlebear274

    8 ай бұрын

    Thanks for the shout out, that sounds like something I'd be interested in so I'll have to check it out!

  • @Argacyan
    @Argacyan8 ай бұрын

    From a geologist perspective it would've been neat to mention that while colloquially "asbestos" refers to a specific material, the name itself is a conglomerating term for many minerals that are united in their fibrous form. Many minerals are "asbestos" with diverse consequences besides the physical hazard, so for example one of the most toxic minerals on earth Chalcanthite is holding that title because it is "asbestos" and also easily dissolves in your lungs, leading to heavy metal poisoning.

  • @andromedatonks60

    @andromedatonks60

    8 ай бұрын

    Thanks for adding this! I was going to mention this if no one else had :) Another thing, if those minerals are not in their fibrous form (“asbestiform”), they are not considered asbestos. (That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re safe, though, as I learned once in undergrad when I got a million tiny splinters from picking up a non-asbestiform tremolite sample 😅)

  • @Artia679
    @Artia6798 ай бұрын

    Been a fan for years myself! Thank you for posting such good videos and now a good one on Asbestos.

  • @lindsayschmidt2177
    @lindsayschmidt21778 ай бұрын

    My great-grandfather died in the 1980s from mesothelioma caused by long-term exposure to asbestos as part of his job. It’s insane to me that it was known to be dangerous as far back as ancient Rome, and yet continued to be used for thousands of years.

  • @SylverMage
    @SylverMage8 ай бұрын

    Fascinating. I always knew asbestos was dangerous to the lungs, but not why. At the lab I worked at, we had exactly one person who was certified to work with the stuff, and he could only do so after hours. Companies who sent in any samples with asbestos had to flag it beforehand, and we reserved the right, if we suspected unflagged asbestos in a sample, to wing it right back and say "Nope."

  • @marciebalme588
    @marciebalme5888 ай бұрын

    Mesothelioma killed my beloved Father in Law , he was a wonderful loving man and was more of a father to me than my own father , he died in agony. He was a Carpenter and it was more than likely the fibro that contained the asbestos . There does not go a day that I don't think about this wonderful man who was murdered by asbestos

  • @dinascharnhorst6590
    @dinascharnhorst65908 ай бұрын

    Excellent presentation, as always, FH. I am quite surprised about the continued use of asbestos here in the US: I thought it had been banned since the 80s!

  • @JasonMcCord-qk3yb

    @JasonMcCord-qk3yb

    8 ай бұрын

    It mostly has been. The problem is; An outright “Ban” creates all sorts of problems. You see, if they actually ban it, then tens of thousands of public schools, tenements, municipal buildings, homes, businesses, etc would have to be evacuated, condemned and either remediated or demolished. Now, banning the mining and SEVERELY limiting the manufacturing of products made out of Asbestos means that they can slowly (and affordably) remove from our buildings and overall lives. Interesting fact: one of the reasons the twin towers fell so quickly on September 11 is that the majority of the Asbestos foam insulation that had been sprayed on the metal I-beams during the original construction had been removed. It was never replaced, as there was no comparable product at the time. Unfortunately, quite a lot of Asbestos remained in areas that were much harder to reach, and this is one of the major reasons so many of the first responders, people who were there that terrible day, and the clean-up workers are getting sick and dying. Many are being diagnosed with Mesothelioma. Let’s all take a moment of silence to think of them. None of them deserved what happened to them….

  • @justandy333
    @justandy3338 ай бұрын

    That's an interesting change to your usual videos. Not 1 single event, just a broad overview of said topic. And very well worthwhile since its killed so many people over the last 2 millennia. I find it shocking that despite knowing all of its pitfalls, countries still mine and use it! Nice video. thumbs up

  • @frigginpos
    @frigginpos8 ай бұрын

    Having dealt with Johns-Manville for years, I was told by their sales man that they were the only company still in existance, that is being held accountable.

  • @oo0o00oo0o
    @oo0o00oo0o8 ай бұрын

    I’ve always heard of the dangers of asbestos but never really understood it. I’m glad a youtuber I’ve been following for years covered it❤

  • @nancyjones6780
    @nancyjones67808 ай бұрын

    It's shocking to hear that 1/4 of a million people are dying from asbestos related issues even now! I mean, with radium at least they figured it out and discontinued the way it was used and manufactured. Asbestos is much older and is far more insidious it seems ! Interesting video! ❤

  • @phuckmundanematt9091

    @phuckmundanematt9091

    8 ай бұрын

    Asbestos is abundant and is in a state of constant natural exposure by the elements in some places, in some areas around Las Vegas for example you can have air samples of the outdoor air coming back above the Permissible Exposure Limits of Asbestos workers in the act of disturbing it in a confined environment during removal, it's just there naturally in the dirt and rocks just waiting to be kicked up by a gust of the wind or by the actions of people, digging to build a road for example, whether we're using it industrially or not it will always present a danger to people in some areas of the world, radium on the other hand isn't naturally found in a concentration that would be dangerous to people like asbestos fibers can be, that makes it a lot easier to limit exposure to people through simple legislation and regulation, asbestos is a tougher problem to tackle.

  • @donnavorce8856

    @donnavorce8856

    6 ай бұрын

    Well and it's everywhere in construction and auto industry uses it today. Old construction is rife with it.

  • @janettesalisbury6524
    @janettesalisbury6524Ай бұрын

    I am currently working on my university thesis and my subject is asbestos related mesothelioma and how it effects workers. I was delighted to find this little documentary. Thank you.

  • @MrNocturnalEmission
    @MrNocturnalEmission8 ай бұрын

    Just seeing piles of it on screen makes me hold my breath.

  • @michellesotelo-mercer7797
    @michellesotelo-mercer77978 ай бұрын

    It's disturbingly amazing how useful asbestos is while being so destructive.... I'm sorry to all those who have suffered from exposure or lost loved ones due to it

  • @phuckmundanematt9091

    @phuckmundanematt9091

    8 ай бұрын

    Honestly if you really think about it, Asbestos may have saved as many lives as it has taken, maybe even more, it's hard to quantify an exact number for that, but think about all the situations where an Asbestos containing material may have gave someone in a fire precious more time to act or escape than they would have without the asbestos, or all the fires in buildings and ships that were outright prevented from developing or spreading in the first place because of Asbestos containing materials, like I said it's something that can't really be accurately quantified but I'd be willing to bet it happens all the time still, and like he said in the video only the people working closely with the asbestos in a manner that generates airborne dust, for many years, were the majority of people being seriously harmed, thousands of deaths a year is not a huge number in the bigger scheme of things, so it could be the case that thousands each year are also saved by the remaining asbestos in buildings and ships. It's good we stopped using it and we shouldn't go back to using it, but it's really neither purely destructive or protective, it's somewhere in the middle.

  • @mixelpixel9025
    @mixelpixel90258 ай бұрын

    We just learned that the water pipes outside our house are made of comcrete mixed with asbestos, which means for the entire time I've lived in that house (20 years) we've been using water running through asbestos. I just kinda have to hope the pipes never get damaged... although they are replacing them this month. Hopefully taking necessary precautions

  • @kosir1234

    @kosir1234

    8 ай бұрын

    dont worry

  • @EXROBOWIDOW

    @EXROBOWIDOW

    8 ай бұрын

    Breathing asbestos is bad. But nobody said anything about drinking it! The lead in old metal pipes, though, is known to be a problem.

  • @lynda1963
    @lynda19638 ай бұрын

    A neighboring town has a school building that was closed in the early 1960s. It contains asbestos, and costs too much to tear down. It's just sitting there in the hope that someday something will be able to be done with it. At some point, it will begin to collapse!

  • @divinita6012
    @divinita60128 ай бұрын

    This one was actually very interesting and contained a lot of information I didn't know. Very good job on the research for it!

  • @steelcurtain187
    @steelcurtain1878 ай бұрын

    Great job this one was very interesting. I wasn’t even aware it was used so far back. Quite the fascinating material.

  • @karendarel6281
    @karendarel62818 ай бұрын

    In Canada it was used in the filters of cigarettes. That's a doozie of bad things you inhale.

  • @fffrrraannkk

    @fffrrraannkk

    8 ай бұрын

    Smoker's lungs back then didn't have a chance. Not that they do now, but putting asbestos up to your lips and directly inhaling it is another level.

  • @ostrich67

    @ostrich67

    8 ай бұрын

    Kent with the Micronite Filter™

  • @28russ
    @28russ8 ай бұрын

    There's still plenty of it in buildings down here in Aus. The local hospital has a sign on the wall as you walk in warning that before commencing any work trades men must fist conform with the hospital that the part of building they're to work on must be cleared as being asbestos free first as even the older parts of the hospital were built with quite a lot of asbestos. A friend of mine had have some removed from a house they'd been living in before they could sell it. And I saw a sign on the front fence of a house the other day warning that there was asbestos removal in progress. Asbestos sheeting is still being used as building materials in the poorer parts of India Sadly the world is still along way from ridding the world of the scourge of asbestos. 😕

  • @carlstenger5893
    @carlstenger58938 ай бұрын

    Wow!! Excellent video. I had no idea just how bad the problem was. Thanks for the education!

  • @SUNNYSKYTX
    @SUNNYSKYTX8 ай бұрын

    Another great and educational video. I hope everyone is subscribing to and supporting your channel - you are right up there with the best on KZread! Thanks.

  • @Ob1sdarkside
    @Ob1sdarkside8 ай бұрын

    Until today, all I knew about asbestos was it was fireproof and lethal if inhaled. I thought it was a man-made fibre

  • @ericalampley480

    @ericalampley480

    8 ай бұрын

    Same.

  • @mbryson2899

    @mbryson2899

    8 ай бұрын

    My brain is still having trouble seeing something flexible as a mineral.

  • @planescaped

    @planescaped

    8 ай бұрын

    Ut's basically a stone that comes in fibers.

  • @AlexanderBurgers

    @AlexanderBurgers

    8 ай бұрын

    the deadliest pet rock, irresistably fluffy

  • @Daniel_Plainview_1911
    @Daniel_Plainview_19118 ай бұрын

    Omg I've been watching a bunch of videos about asbestos and now you upload one too? Thanks! 🎉

  • @pinemartin5618
    @pinemartin56188 ай бұрын

    So cool to see you do a video that's just about A Thing. I love learning about things! Incidences are cool but don't always allow such an overview of an issue at large, and Asbestos is just such a big thing that we take for granted people know about. I remember my elementary/primary schools having asbestos labeling, and knowing it was bad, but never being told what it was or what it did!

  • @seandelap8587
    @seandelap85878 ай бұрын

    It's always interesting to learn about this stuff