Print this page

Asbestos - Mesothelioma

Asbestos is a group of minerals with long thin fibric crystals. The term asbestos is Greek for Miracle Mineral because of its soft properties. It was increasingly popular among manufacturers and builders in the late 19th century; the fibres were often mixed with cement. In 1880 the first Asbestos factory was opened in France and the first finding of an Asbestos induced disease was in 1906.

Link between Asbestos and Mesothelioma
In 1960 there was a paper by Wagner and others which established a link between blue Asbestos and Mesothelioma. Wagner was a pathologist in South Africa, who found tumours when expecting to find tuberculosis. Before this, Mesotheliomas were always classed as secondary to a primary tumour and pathologists were criticised by Professor Willis, an authority in his day, for not finding the primary tumour. Wagner did a study of mine workers in South Africa which led to the finding of a considerable amount of Mesotheliomas.

Regulations highlighting danger of Asbestos
In 1929/30, the Merry Weather Report was prepared and a year later in 1931 resulted with the first regulations. These regulations were the first to highlight the dangers of Asbestos. Even though they only applied to scheduled processes, the significance that these regulations had was that they highlighted the dangers early on.

Types of Asbestos
There are 3 different types of Asbestos fibres which are white, brown and blue.

1. White Asbestos is known as crystallite; these are long curly fibres and are used to make blankets and aprons. Due to their nature these fibres are more likely to get stuck on the bronchi and can be coughed out. They are the less dangerous.
2. Blue Asbestos is needle like in shape and are very fine fibres. They do not tend to get caught in the lining of the bronchi and therefore find their way into the lungs. These are the most dangerous and most likely to lead to Mesothelioma
3. Brown Asbestos (also known as amosite) is thicker than blue Asbestos but also needle like in formation

History of the use of Asbestos
The use of Asbestos took off in the 1930's and the 1940's after a slow start. It was popular due to its toughness as a binding agent in cements and its fire resisting qualities for break liners, ironing boards, hairdryers etc. Its use was particularly increased during the 2nd World War with warships, which were sprayed with Asbestos cement in the bulk heads. It was used in break shoes and gaskets for its heat resisting qualities. It was also used on electric ovens and hot plate wiring for its electrical insulation, as well as being used in buildings for its flame retardant and insulation properties.

If you have contracted the disease Mesothelioma from exposure to Asbestos within the workplace then please contact Malcomson Law by calling 01 8744422 or complete an Online Enquiry Form. A solicitor who specialises in this area will contact you to advise you of your legal rights and entitlements.

This news section contains stories of interest from publicly available news sources. Where we are representing the clients referred to in the news material we will say so. Where we do not represent individuals or bodies mentioned or quoted, the inclusion of the news story in our news section is not intended nor should it be taken to imply that we act for the individual or body concerned.