Magic Mineral to Killer Dust

Particles of asbestos, when inhaled, cause inflammation and then scarring of the lungs, which slowly strangle the victim. As a result, many "asbestotics" also develop heart failure and become susceptible to pneumonia and other infections. Asbestos also gives its victims a greater chance of developing lung cancer. The most dramatic effect of asbestos on the body, however, is mesothelioma, a pleural cancer that "can encase and constrict the entire surface of the chest or abdomen" with a leather-like consistency (p. 152). The shop floor where asbestos is processed is equally dramatic: "snowstorms" of asbestos; visibility of 3-4 yards in some areas; and workers cleaning out exhaust fan hoppers and becoming enveloped by the material. This important book reminds us anew of how the economics of doing business shortchanges workers whose health suffers because of where they work

Art · Asbestos · Astronomy · Biology · Hazard · MAGIC (telescope) · Metallurgy · Mineral · Physics · Ecology · Materials Science · Medicine · Occupational and environmental lung diseases