Asbestos Usage During the Industrial Revolution
The only way to understand why there was an increase in asbestos use during the Industrial Revolution is to grasp the impact that the Industrial Revolution had on the world.
Setting the stage for asbestos use during the Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution did just that—it revolutionized the way people lived, bringing them out of agricultural communities and populating the cities through new sources of work. It was an era where machines came into use, replacing human labor, and eventually enabling mass production.
Innovations that came out of the Industrial Revolution include:
- The mechanization of textile mills
- Mining of coal and other minerals
- Iron production, which involved increasing refined coal use
- Steam power for energy production, instead of using water wheels to power machinery
- Better means of transportation, including steam-powered locomotives and ships
- Gas lighting that allowed people to work longer days
- Electrical power generation
- The internal combustion engine
How asbestos met an industrial need
Textile manufacture, metallurgy, mining, steam power, and the use of chemicals in the production of glass, textiles, soap, and paper were new innovations. Asbestos emerged as a way to improve products and facilitate their manufacture.
In the early 1700s, large asbestos deposits were discovered in Russia in the Ural Mountains, which led to factories that made asbestos products such as textiles, socks, gloves, and handbags.
More than a century later in Quebec, Canada, large deposits of chrysotile asbestos were mined, followed by discoveries of asbestos in South Africa, which were mined in Transvaal, South Africa.
The heat-resistant and fireproof properties of asbestos, useful for steam production. Asbestos was abundant, inexpensive, and easy to extract through mining.
Railroad industry’s use of asbestos
There were also abundant uses for asbestos in the railroad industry. Steam engines produced a lot of heat, which required insulating certain metals and materials from each other. Asbestos was used as insulation for engines, boilers, pipes, refrigeration units, gaskets, boxcars, and cabooses. Asbestos was also used for railroad brakes and clutches.