The main cause of the deadly cancer mesothelioma is asbestos exposure. But it’s not just mesothelioma that asbestos causes, but many other diseases as well. Even though most of the world powers, and many other countries have banned asbestos, it is still in use by much of the world. Almost fifty countries banned asbestos use in the 1970s; but still, millions of tons of asbestos are used every year. 

Asbestos does have a lot of great qualities. It is heat and fire-resistant, great at insulation, and soft. Along with all this, it is a very cheap building material. Sounds great, doesn’t it? That’s why it was used so much, and was even called a “miracle mineral” at one point. But it has been found to cause many deadly diseases, and because of this, its use was mostly stopped. The military also used it a lot while it was common, and now military families have to bear a disproportionate burden of asbestos-related disease. 

In the United States, the use of asbestos is allowed in many ways, but must be limited to the general public. Because of this, the way asbestos is used in office buildings and homes has changed a lot. Many laws have been made around the world to ban the use of asbestos in new developments. Since the time when asbestos use was at its highest, alternatives for asbestos have been found.

One alternative to asbestos is flour fillers. One of the prized qualities of asbestos was its insulating properties. Flour fillers are becoming an important substitute for asbestos. It can fill cracks and crevices and form a sort of natural insulation. Wheat and shell flour, as well as rice hull ash, are just a few of the types of fillers that may be used in the buildings of the next fifty years. The fact that flour is a green building material makes it even more attractive. 

There are a lot of new mesothelioma patients every year. It is alarming how many there are. Even more people are expected to get mesothelioma in the next couple of decades, because mesothelioma has an extremely long latency period of up to fifty years. 

Not enough has been done to remove asbestos from existing homes and buildings. When asbestos fibers are disturbed, they can be breathed in. When they are breathed in, they can cause mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is caused when sharp asbestos fibers get stuck in the cells of the lungs. Then the lung cells can grow tumors and cause mesothelioma. Many families don’t know if they have asbestos in their homes. And then, when they start a big renovation project, asbestos is released into the air, causing harm to many people in the long run. 

Even though many modern nations have banned asbestos, and in most cases this happened almost fifty years ago, many people still don’t know about its dangers or its connection to mesothelioma. But asbestos awareness is growing. The rate of asbestos removal from existing materials and the use of alternative materials for asbestos in new buildings is expected to go up. 

We are an asbestos testing and removal company, and we remove asbestos from both homes and buildings. Do you want to know more about asbestos? Or do you want to get asbestos in your home removed, or for your home to be tested for asbestos? There is no time like the present! Call us today at (708) 367-3381 to ask us anything related to asbestos-related.