As Roger's fibre photo showed, you can only really appreciate how dangerous asbestos is when you look at it under the microscope:
This is white asbestos (Chrysotile)
This is Blue (Crocidolite)
As you can see - there's a big difference. White is liked frayed rope which is why it can be spun and woven, whereas Blue is sharp and jagged like a load of little needles. At the Roberts factory they used White to make the mattresses (to lag boilers like those on steam trains) and Blue to stuff them with - which was done by hand.
As you can see - there's a big difference. White is liked frayed rope which is why it can be spun and woven, whereas Blue is sharp and jagged like a load of little needles. At the Roberts factory they used White to make the mattresses (to lag boilers like those on steam trains) and Blue to stuff them with - which was done by hand.
White will certainly congest the lungs and cause asbestosis if inhaled over a long enough period, but Blue is regarded as more dangerous as its fibres are brittle and sharp and continually break down smaller and smaller and can penetrate the lining of the lungs and travel throughout the body.
A good website for everything about asbestos and keeping up to date with what's happening in the UK and the world check out the British Asbestos Newsletter (yep - BAN) run by the tireless Laurie Kazan-Allen who helped me a lot with the writing of this play - and which even gets a mention in the latest edition.
A good website for everything about asbestos and keeping up to date with what's happening in the UK and the world check out the British Asbestos Newsletter (yep - BAN) run by the tireless Laurie Kazan-Allen who helped me a lot with the writing of this play - and which even gets a mention in the latest edition.
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