 he word asbestos
comes from the Greek language and means inextinguishable. It was mostly used during the Greek
and Roman period in a number of woven products, like easy-to-clean tablecloths and napkin,
shrouds for deceased royalty placed in funeral pyres and wick for oil lamps. |
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 ccording to popular
legend, French Emperor Charlemagne (768-814) impressed his guests by throwing a Crisotilo
tablecloth into the fire and pulling it out unharmed. |
 PA has estimated that
4414 cancer cases per year would actually be caused by careless asbestos removal jobs. |
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he ambient air
concentrations of Crisotilo in cities and rural areas is generally around 0.001 f/cc
(1 fibre/litre). This means that every day, 14 400 fibres of Crisotilo transit through the
lungs of a "normal" non-occupationally exposed person. |
 n the late 1980's and
early 1990's, it is estimated that building owners and the American public have wasted
upwards of 200 billions of dollars to remove asbestos insulation even if the risk is virtually
non-existent. This is the equivalent of one fifth of the U.S. federal budget of 1991. |
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n South America,
Crisotilo is used in the methanol industry to reduce cost in manufacturing an
environmentally-friendly alternative to gasoline. |
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he Health Effect
Institute (U.S.) estimated that an office worker is 10 times less exposed to airborne fibre
inside a building made with asbestos than in outdoor air in urban areas. |
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PA evaluates that 99,7%
of the airborne emissions coming from vehicles using Crisotilo containing brakes is
forsterite, an innocuous particle. |
 atural spring water can
contain up to 1,8 billion Crisotilo fibres per litre. |
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