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At the peak of the use of asbestos insulation, many different brands appeared, including Zonolite, Kaylo and Limpet. These products usually contain 15% to 100% asbestos. Many types of asbestos insulation materials, including loose filling, pipe wrapping, and spraying, are asbestos fibers that are fragile and easily released.

Asbestos insulation is the largest source of asbestos exposure for workers throughout the 20th century, and it is still a toxic hazard to many homes and businesses today. For a long time, asbestos was considered an ideal material for almost all types of insulating materials, until its carcinogenic effects were made public.

This naturally occurring mineral has unique fiber properties, giving it a cotton-like consistency. The space between the fibers slows the transfer of heat through the material, making it extremely heat resistant.

Asbestos fibers are easily pulled apart, which allows manufacturers to mix them with other materials (such as magnesium oxide) to make different types of insulation materials. If insulation is required, use asbestos. For most of the 20th century, insulators were often referred to as "asbestos workers" because they often handled this material.

U.S. asbestos insulation material manufacturers include:

Asbestos-containing insulation materials can be divided into four categories: loosely filled, wrapped, blocky and sprayed.

Loosely filled insulation materials are designed to be poured on the attic floor or blown into the hollow spaces in walls and other building structures. The loosely filled asbestos insulation material—sometimes almost entirely made of toxic minerals—is very dangerous because even a slight air current can disturb it, sending respirable asbestos fibers into the air. This product is also called asbestos attic insulation.

Insulating coverings of pipes, ducts and other pipes and HVAC components in old buildings often contain asbestos. For decades, asbestos pipe insulation has also been a major health hazard to naval vessels.

Before 1980, insulators usually wrapped pipes with asbestos-based bubble insulating material, which was essentially a cardboard made of asbestos paper. This insulating material becomes fragile as it ages, and if it is damaged or cut and replaced, it will release a large amount of asbestos dust. A product called asbestos wool insulation is also wrapped in the pipe.

The fabric of the old valve insulation cover usually also contains asbestos fibers, which may disperse due to abrasion.

A simple way to insulate the walls of a building is to glue an insulating board to it. In the past, these insulating blocks or slabs were usually made of almost pure asbestos, and whenever such blocks were sawn or damaged, there was a significant risk of exposure. This product is also called asbestos wall insulation material.

Sprayed insulation materials were developed to reduce the labor required to apply insulation and fire protection materials on ceilings, walls and structural beams. You can see sprayed insulation in many large commercial buildings, where the ceiling is coated with a thick layer of gray material.

Unfortunately, many spray insulation products contain up to 85% asbestos, putting workers who apply them at extreme risk. In addition, these products are easily damaged, releasing a mass of asbestos fibers into the air. Unless they are completely encapsulated, they present a significant risk of exposure.

Since 1990, the United States has banned the spraying of insulating products containing more than 1% asbestos, unless the product is encapsulated with asphalt or resin adhesive during the spraying process.

Other types of asbestos-containing insulating materials include:

One of the most notorious asbestos insulation products is Zonolite insulation. It originated in the 1940s and began to flourish in the 1960s when WR Grace and Company acquired the brand. Zonolite is a loosely filled insulating material made from asbestos-contaminated vermiculite, which is installed in millions of American homes as attic insulating materials.

Unlike many other insulation products of the time, Zonolite was never actually intended to contain asbestos. The vermiculite used in this product comes from a mine in Libby, Montana, which was contaminated with asbestos. Zonolite contains tremolite asbestos, a type of asbestos that is known to cause disease when the exposure rate is lower than that of other types of asbestos.

According to internal documents from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, it is estimated that 30 million households may still have Zonolite in the attic.

One of the most toxic insulation products used in Australia is asbestos velvet attic insulation, which was sold by a well-known company in the 1960s and 1970s, which is often referred to as "Mr." Fluffy. "The light-hearted name comes from the fluffy appearance of loosely-filled insulation products.

The Australian government implemented a cleanup plan in the 1980s, but did not realize the true extent of the pollution. Although the asbestos wool insulation material has been successfully removed from the attic where it was installed, by then the mineral fiber had been blown into every corner and crevice of the affected house.

After the new test was conducted in 2014, Australian government officials had to inform residents of the so-called "sir". "Fluffy houses" mean that their houses are still heavily polluted. Because removing asbestos from houses poses such a big challenge, the government actually finds that it is cheaper to buy houses directly and demolish them.

Asbestos-related diseases, such as asbestosis and mesothelioma, are caused by the accumulation of tiny asbestos fibers in the body after being inhaled or swallowed. Asbestos is almost impossible for the body to decompose or excrete. For many years, toxic mineral fibers can cause scars, inflammation, and genetic damage to cells.

As we all know, asbestos insulation materials can cause the following diseases:

For most of the 20th century, the asbestos content of most insulation products was usually 15% or higher, and many products consist almost entirely of brittle asbestos, which easily releases dust into the air. Historically, most asbestos-related diseases were caused by occupational exposure. By far, the biggest risk is borne by people who work in factories that manufacture asbestos insulation products.

In addition, whenever construction workers and shipyards dump or blow in loosely filled asbestos, handle broken asbestos pipe wraps, cut asbestos blocks to a certain size, or spray asbestos insulation on the structure, enough asbestos will be released Dust endangers the health of everyone around. In the United States, asbestos insulation materials are still present in many buildings, so that businessmen still often face the risk of exposure to asbestos.

Occupations that may be exposed to asbestos insulation materials include:

When aging asbestos insulation is disturbed by maintenance, renovation or wear and tear, families living in old houses and employees working in old commercial buildings are also threatened. The asbestos insulation in the old school building has caused a continuing public health crisis, affecting generations of students and teachers. Today, due to the extensive use of this toxic mineral by the military in the past, asbestos-related diseases affect veterans particularly severely.

Many experts also warn that if homeowners fail to take proper precautions when repairing old houses, the rise of do-it-yourself renovations may lead to a new wave of asbestos victims.

If you are suffering from asbestos-related diseases, be sure to seek medical care from a doctor who specifically diagnosed you. These doctors work in top cancer centers in the United States, where you can access innovative treatments and clinical trials.

Because manufacturers continue to add asbestos to their insulation products even after experts report its toxicity, victims of asbestos-related diseases have won thousands of lawsuits against these companies. Many of them, including WR Grace and Johns Manville, were found to have concealed their knowledge of asbestos from employees and government officials.

Since the 1980s, many asbestos product manufacturers have filed for bankruptcy due to numerous lawsuits. Johns Manville set an important precedent and filed for bankruptcy in 1982. Six years later, the issue was resolved by establishing a US$2.5 billion Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust, which provides compensation for current and future claimants. The plan was considered a new use of the bankruptcy law at the time, but since then many other companies have set up similar trust funds.

An experienced mesothelioma lawyer can review your case and advise whether you are eligible to file trust fund claims and litigation, such as personal injury claims or negligent death claims.

Do-it-yourself people should never try to weaken asbestos insulation. It is important to hire a licensed asbestos abatement company to remove asbestos insulation materials because these materials are very fragile and handling them can cause asbestos exposure.

Make sure that the company you hire is licensed to implement asbestos emissions reductions. If you do not choose a licensed company to do this work correctly and safely, you may incur high fines for improper asbestos removal and disposal.

The long incubation period of asbestos-related diseases allowed the continued use of asbestos insulation materials until the successful personal injury litigation in the 1970s finally exposed the health consequences. The use of asbestos insulation gradually disappeared in the 1980s and ended in the 1990s.

From the World War to the Cold War, the military use of asbestos insulation spanned the construction and manufacturing boom of the 1950s and 1960s, spreading asbestos insulation to homes and factories in the suburbs of the country. In particular, U.S. Navy ships have pushed the demand for asbestos to new heights, because miles of high-temperature pipelines and many other parts of naval ships have been wrapped and coated with asbestos insulation.

One of the giants in the asbestos insulation industry was founded in 1901 when HW Johns Manufacturing Company, known for its asbestos-containing roof tiles, merged with Manville Covering Company, which specializes in pipe insulation and operates its own asbestos mine. The resulting HW Johns Manville Company continued to become the largest manufacturer of asbestos products in the United States, and was reorganized into Johns Manville Corporation in 1926.

The young asbestos insulation industry is developing rapidly, but the warning signs are already obvious. Henry Ward Johns (Henry Ward Johns) was named after the company he founded. He died at the age of 40 from what the coroner called "pneumoconiosis pneumonia"—now considered asbestos disease.

Asbestos has been used since ancient times to make fireproof cloths for kings' shrouds and tablecloths for wealthy landlords, but it was not until the huge demand for insulating materials from the machinery of the Industrial Revolution that the modern asbestos industry emerged.

In 1828, asbestos was used to line steam engines. It was the first asbestos product to be patented in the United States. With boilers and high-temperature pipes becoming more and more common fixtures in enterprises and vehicles in the 19th century, asbestos insulation products gradually proved their effectiveness and were finally put into commercial production on a large scale in 1874 .

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