The Story of Asbestos 1921 US Bureau of Mines and Johns Manville Corporation

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• published: 08 Oct 2012
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This silent film was produced by the US Bureau of Mines with the assistance of the Johns-Manville Company, one of the many industrial films made by the Bureau in cooperation with industry. The film shows the operation of mines and factories of Johns-Manville. Asbestos is first mined as rock and fiber at Chrysotile, Wyoming and Quebec, Canada. It is then sorted and sent to factories at Manville, New Jersey and Waukegan, Illinois, where it is crushed, mixed, and carded. Asbestos is made into brake linings, tubing, rubber cement, pipe insulation, and roofing. Finally the film shows how magnesia is used with asbestos. And ends with how roofing is tested and applied and how asbestos shingles are manufactured. Johns-Manville was founded in 1858 as the H. W. Johns Manufacturing Company of New York, N. Y. and was based on the principle uses of asbestos as fire resistant roofing material. In 1886 the inception of the Manville Covering Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin was founded on the principle uses of asbestos as a heat insulating material. In 1901 H. W. Johns Manufacturing Company and Manville Pipe Covering Company merged to form H. W. Johns-Manville Company of New York, N. Y. The company was reincorporated as Johns-Manville Corporation in 1926. Between 1900 and the mid 1980s, asbestos was used in over 3,000 different products. During the 20th century, more than 30 million tons of asbestos were used in industrial facilities, homes, schools, shipyards, steel mills, power plants and commercial buildings in the United States. Asbestos is term used to describe six naturally occurring minerals with similar properties. In the simplest of terms, asbestos is a rock mined from the ground. Asbestos has several key physical properties, including its durability and resistance to heat and combustion. It is also fibrous in nature, which allows it to be spun and woven into cloth. Most chemicals do not affects asbestos, and it is also does not conduct electricity well. Asbestos is an extremely fibrous mineral and mining, milling, processing, or use of asbestos and its products create many small fibers. Because of their thin shape and small size, the asbestos fibers easily pass through the body's natural defenses designed to trap debris within the respiratory systems before reaching the lungs. Once inside the lungs, the asbestos fibers slice into the sensitive tissue causing irritation and scarring. Because asbestos fibers are so durable, the body is not able to break them down to remove them. Once in place, the fibers continue to generate scar tissue, progressively damaging the lungs; extensive scarring can lead to the development of asbestosis. Asbestos may also cause the development of mesothelioma or lung cancer. Under the authority of the Clean Air Act, the US EPA banned the use of most spray-applied surfacing used for fireproofing, insulation and decorative purposes and thermal system insulation for wet-applied and preformed asbestos pipe insulation and preformed asbestos block insulation on boiler and hot water tanks. For current information, contact ADAO - Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization - an independent organization founded by Linda Reinstein and Doug Larkin in 2004. ADAO seeks to give asbestos victims and concerned citizens a united voice to raise public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure. ADAO is an independent global organization dedicated to preventing asbestos-related diseases through education, advocacy and community. ADAO's mission includes supporting global advocacy and advancing asbestos awareness, prevention, early detection, treatment, and resources for asbestos-related disease. For more information go to www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org. In the past, asbestos—now known to cause cancer in humans—was used extensively in walls and ceilings and to cover pipes, boilers, and various industrial equipment. Because of this danger, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations require that asbestos be removed before a building undergoes major renovations or is demolished. When asbestos is present, specially trained workers must remove it before insulation workers can install the new insulating materials.