Asbestos Timeline - Innopulse

Asbestos Through History

Asbestos has been used for thousands of years

The short video on the left will walk you through the long history of asbestos & its various uses .

Annual UK Asbestos Deaths

Schools contain asbestos

Asbestos Products

.5M

Office Buildings

Deaths per Hr

Homeowners are Oblivious

of Homes contain Asbestos

Homeowners couldn't Identify Asbestos

The Asbestos Timeline

.....3000 BC

Asbestos fibres are used in ancient Egypt, Finland & Persia. It is sewn into clothing, worked into pottery, & built into log homes as insulation.

.....50 AD

The naturally occurring fibres are named “asbestos” by Pliny the Elder, a Roman scholar. He also describes illnesses in slaves who worked around the substance at this time.

.....1828

The first U.S. patent for asbestos is issued. Use of asbestos in industry & construction begins to rise.

.....1870's

Commercial exploitation of asbestos is started.

.....1899

First report of a person dying from lung fibrosis caused by asbestos.

.....1900's

Asbestos was known as a “magic mineral”

.....1906

Dr Montague Murray gives evidence to the Departmental Committee on Industrial Diseases of the death of a man from an asbestos related condition.

.....1917

Nellie Kershaw starts working in a UK factory spinning asbestos fibre.

.....1918

The U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics reveals abnormal early deaths among asbestos workers.

.....1924

The first reported medical case of an asbestos related death due to asbestosis. Nellie Kershaw from Rochdale had worked at Turner Brothers Asbestos as a rover spinner.

.....1928

The UK Government Factory Inspectors Report in 1928 noted cases involving asbestos exposure causing pulmonary fibrosis (asbestosis).

.....1929

Workers & their families in the US begin suing Johns Manville Corporation, the worlds largest asbestos mine/manufacturer, for exposure to asbestos on the job.

.....1930

UK Government Factory Inspector’s report by Dr Merewether and Mr Price presented to Parliament in March 1930 “Occurrence of Pulmonary Fibrosis & Other Pulmonary Affections in Asbestos Workers” They concluded there was a definite occupational risk in the asbestos industry in the form of a type of fibrosis of the lungs (asbestosis).

.....1931

The Asbestos Industry Regulations 1931 come in to force on 1st March 1932 in the UK. These regulations sought to control the amount of asbestos dust in factories.

.....1933

In the U.S. Johns Manville & Raybestos Manhattan edit the report of a Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. doctor to minimize the danger of asbestos dust.

.....1937

The Factories Act 1937 came into force in the UK.

.....1938

The Factory Inspectors Annual Report of 1938 published in July 1939 commented “There can be no doubt that dust, if inhaled, is physiologically undesirable. Moreover, dust that is thought today to be harmless may, following research, be viewed in another light tomorrow. It is not many years ago when the dust of asbestos was regarded as innocuous while to-day it is recognised as highly dangerous.”

.....1950

Richard Doll reported link between lung cancer & smoking.

.....1952-1956

Kent cigarettes use crocidolite asbestos in their micronite filter.

.....1952

Nora Dockerty’s family were the first in the UK to receive compensation for her death from an asbestos related disease. Nora had worked at Turner Brothers Asbestos in Rochdale for 13 ½ years.

.....1955

Eminent Scientist Richard Doll’s report, “Mortality from Lung Cancer in Asbestos Workers” published and showed a link between asbestos dust and cancer. “Lung cancer was a specific hazard of certain asbestos workers”. Dolls findings also show a 10x increase in lung cancer for asbestos textile workers.

.....1959

The Factories Act 1959 passed.

.....1960

Pathologist Chris Wagner’s report “Diffuse mesothelioma and asbestos exposure in the North Western Cape Province” showed a clear link between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma, an asbestos cancer. Chris Wagner also reported mesothelioma in people who had not worked directly with asbestos.

.....1960

The Shipbuilding and Ship-Repairing Regulations 1960 came into force on 31st March 1961. These regulations sort to control the use of asbestos in the shipbuilding industry.

.....1964

The Journal of the American Medical Association reveals that people who work with asbestos containing materials have a greater than normal incidence of asbestosis, lung cancer, & mesothelioma.

.....1964

Turner & Newall solicitors warned the directors: “We have, over the years, been able to talk our way out of claims but we have always recognised that at some stage solicitors of experience . . . would, with the advance in medical knowledge and the development of the law . . . recognise there is no real defence to these claims and take us to trial.”

.....1965

Dr Muriel Newhouse and Hilda Thompson’s report established a link between mesothelioma and domestic exposure to asbestos. “There seems to be little doubt that the risk of mesothelioma may arise from both occupational and domestic exposure to asbestos.”

.....1965

31 October 1965 – Front page Sunday Times Newspaper article reported a link between low level asbestos exposure such as from clothing and mesothelioma. “Scientists track down killer dust disease”

.....1969

The Asbestos Regulations 1969 came into force on the 14th May 1970. These regulations imposed much stricter rules than those under the 1931 Regulations and applied to significantly more work with asbestos. At the same time a voluntary ban was introduced on the import of blue asbestos (Crocidolite) to the UK.

.....1970's

Use of AIB (asbestos insulating board) continued in construction.

.....1971

28th June 1971 – Ground-breaking World in Action Documentary – The Dust at Acre Mill – This was a TV documentary on Cape’s Asbestos Factory in Hebden Bridge and its dangerous use of asbestos.

.....1974

The Health & Safety at Work Act introduced.

.....1980

A voluntary ban was introduced on the import of brown (Amosite) asbestos to the U.K.

.....1982

Yorkshire TV prime time documentary “Alice – A Fight For Life” was shown on 20th July 1982 and ignited public and political debate around asbestos use in the UK. Alice Jefferson suffered from mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos at work at Cape’s Asbestos Mill, Acre Mill.

.....1983

The Asbestos (Licencing) Regulations introduced.

.....1985

The Asbestos (Prohibitions) Regulations 1985 were introduced and banned the import of blue and brown asbestos in to the UK

.....1987

The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations introduced giving greater protection to employees at work

.....1993

Groundbreaking cases of Margereson and Hancock v JW Roberts Limited were heard. The Judge held that since 1933 JW Roberts should have known children playing near their asbestos factory in Armley, Leeds where asbestos was manufactured would be exposed to the risk of developing asbestos related diseases.

.....1999

Asbestos (Prohibition) (Amendment) Regulations 1999 come into force and white (Chrysotile) asbestos banned in the UK.

.....2001

Federal Mogul (U.K) Group (previously the T & N Group) went in to administration on the 1st October 2001 and in October 2006 the T & N Asbestos Trustee Company Limited commenced the payment of claims made against two trusts which have been established to pay damages to those exposed to asbestos by T & N’s companies..

.....2002

The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 come into force.

.....2002

Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Limited, The House of Lords decided that a mesothelioma sufferer was entitled to damages from any person who had exposed them to asbestos when they could show that the exposure to asbestos had materially increased the risk of them developing mesothelioma as science could not prove when a person had been exposed to asbestos in more than one place, which exposure had caused the mesothelioma.

.....2004

Maguire v Harland and Wolff. The Court of Appeal decided a shipbuilding company could not have known that a wife washing her husband’s overalls which were covered in asbestos dust in the period 1960 to 1965 would be at risk of developing an asbestos related condition.

.....2006

s.3 of The Compensation Act 2006 reverse Barker v Corus (UK) Plc. A mesothelioma sufferer is entitled to their damages in full from any person who negligently exposed them to asbestos.

.....2006

Barker v Corus (U.K) Plc. The House of Lord’s decided following Fairchild that whilst a mesothelioma sufferer was entitled to damages for mesothelioma, where the sufferer had been exposed to asbestos with more than one person, each person only had to pay their share and not 100 % of the damages. This meant if a mesothelioma sufferer could not trace all the people who had exposed him or her to asbestos or their insurers then they would not receive full compensation.

.....2006

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 come into force.

.....2006

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council v MMI – The Court of Appeal decided that in a public liability claim, which is one where the exposure to asbestos was not from work, the correct public liability insurer was the one on cover 10 years before the mesothelioma sufferer developed symptoms.

.....2007

Rice & Thompson v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and another – The Court of Appeal found the National Dock Labour Board (The Government) owed a duty of care to dockworkers working in the Liverpool Dock who were exposed to asbestos.

.....2007

The pleural plaques test cases – Rothwell v Chemical & Insulating Co Ltd – The House of Lords decided that pleural plaques were not compensatable.

.....2008

The Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme 2008 came into force. This allowed anyone diagnosed with mesothelioma who was exposed to asbestos in the UK to receive a one-off lump sum payment from the Government.

.....2011

Willmore v Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council. Diane Willmore had been exposed to asbestos whilst attending secondary school in the 1970’s. She later developed mesothelioma. The Supreme Court decided that a mesothelioma sufferer did not have to show that their exposure to asbestos with any person doubled the risk of them developing mesothelioma compared to the risk of the risk of them developing mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos from the general environment.

.....2012

“The Trigger Litigation”. On the 28th March 2012, the Supreme Court gave their decision in 6 cases together called The Trigger Litigation. The Supreme Court had been asked to interpret insurance policies which had been entered into between employers who exposed their employees to asbestos and their Employers Liability Insurers. The Supreme Court decided that the insurance company who insured an employer at the time a mesothelioma sufferer was exposed to asbestos was the insurance company that should pay damages.

.....2012

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 came into force.

.....2014

The Mesothelioma Act 2014 gave the Government the power to establish The Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme 2014. This scheme makes damages payments to those who have developed mesothelioma from being wrongly exposed to asbestos at work but their employer no longer exists and no insurer has been found.

Documentaries from the Asbestos Timeline

The Dust at Acre Mill

The Asbestos Regulations 1969 came into force on the 14th May 1970. At the same time a voluntary ban was introduced on the import of blue asbestos (Crocidolite) to the UK.

The Dust at Acre Mill

World in Action

28th June 1971 – Groundbreaking World in Action Documentary – The Dust at Acre Mill – This was a TV documentary on Cape’s Asbestos Factory in Hebden Bridge and its dangerous use of asbestos.

Alice – A Fight for Life

Part 1 &2

Alice – A Fight for Life

Yorkshire TV

Yorkshire TV prime time documentary “Alice – A Fight for Life” was shown on 20th July 1982 and ignited public and political debate around asbestos use in the UK. Alice Jefferson suffered from mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos at work at Cape’s Asbestos Mill, Acre Mill.

Early Asbestos Adverts

A look at how asbestos is formed and at the various fireproof goods it can be used to make. One of many inventions we might now consider rather dangerous!

Early Asbestos Adverts

The ``Wonderful`` Uses of Asbestos

THE THINGS THAT WOW US – THE MONTH OF AMAZING INVENTIONS ON BRITISH PATHÉ (AUGUST 2015): Newsreel of the Week: The “Wonderful” Uses of Asbestos (1942).

Larsons Asbestos Commercial Circa 1954

Believe it or not this was a genuine advert for Larsons

Kent Cigarettes

Kent cigarettes use crocidolite asbestos in their micronite filter.

Asbestos and Human History

This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As images of actual events are sometimes not available, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration..

Asbestos and Human History

The History Guy

Today we know asbestos to be a health hazard. But the natural mineral was not simply an artifact of the industrial age. The History Guy recalls the long human history with asbestos.

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