Asbestos is a very dangerous mineral that has been mostly banned throughout the entire United States. There are only a few products and industries that still use asbestos, and those will soon not be able to use it either. The use of asbestos has had a huge impact on the American people, with over 39,000 Americans dying due to asbestos related diseases. Clearly, this mineral has wreaked havoc on the American people. With all of this information, you may be wondering what asbestos actually is and how it got to this point in the United States. In this article, we will be talking about exactly what asbestos is and what it is used for. This will help us get a better idea of how the asbestos crisis came to be. 

 To start off, there are six different types of asbestos categories. This includes Chrysotile, Tremolite, Crocidolite, Amosite, Anthophyllite. Although these have some differences, they are mostly the same. Any type of asbestos is a mineral that comes in a fibrous form, which is what makes them so deadly. When someone is exposed to asbestos they can easily breath in the mineral. The fibers of asbestos are very small and thin, and they go airborne very easily. If asbestos is not sealed down, a simple bump can lead to a cloud of asbestos puffing into the air. This asbestos can then be easily inhaled. After inhaling the asbestos, it can affect the lining of the lungs and cause cancers and diseases. Asbestos can also cause diseases in other places that it comes in contact with as well, although the lungs seem to be the most susceptible. 

Naturally occurring asbestos fibers are resistant to fire, heat, chemicals, and electricity, which makes them the perfect mineral to be used in construction and in other industries as well, such as auto mechanics and firefighting. Each of these industries uses asbestos for something different, but they all used to use asbestos. In construction, asbestos was used as insulation, roofing material, tile material, and many other aspects of an average building. This clearly was very dangerous. 

After people began to get sick and tests showed that it was directly related to asbestos, asbestos began to be banned across the United States. Although it is not fully banned today, it is still heavily regulated.