Why You are Entitled to Compensation: The History of the Asbestos Industry

The asbestos industry has a dirty little secret. For centuries, there has been evidence that asbestos caused respiratory diseases in humans. By the 1930's, however, the asbestos industry was selling millions of dollars worth of asbestos insulation. Asbestos, a mineral, was plentiful and inexpensive. Best of all, it was a terrific insulating material. It was used in all sorts of insulations-pipecovering, cement, gaskets, blankets, and the like. It was even used in clothing, building materials, automotive products and other various uses.

There was only one problem-people who worked with it had a habit of dying from respiratory illnesses. The medical literature of the 1920's and 1930's was developing a wealth of information about the hazards of asbestos. The medical and industrial fields were well aware of the dangerous nature of asbestos by this time.

It was around this time that the asbestos companies began to gather and form trade associations in order to strengthen their industry. Beginning in the 1920's and 1930's, the asbestos trade associations and industry giants began to fund scientific studies to prove that asbestos was safe. Their scientists, however, came back with a different conclusion. Asbestos, they warned, was a highly toxic carcinogen. It caused respiratory illnesses, including cancer, in laboratory animals and, it was believed, in humans.

Faced with this evidence, the asbestos industry did the unthinkable-they covered it up. Scientific reports were edited and modified, test results were altered or destroyed, and funding was stopped. The asbestos industry then embarked on a campaign to keep the information from reaching the general public. All the while, manufacturers continued selling millions of dollars worth of asbestos products to the public. It was used in massive amounts in shipyards, commercial construction and residential construction. Manufacturers of safer, non-asbestos insulations were bought out by the asbestos industry giants, stifling competition and safeguarding the cover-up.

Through the tireless efforts of some of those pioneering scientists, the United States government finally realized the hazards of asbestos, and began a slow campaign to curtail, and ultimately prohibit, its use in the United States.