Rant about asbestos:
'Asbestos' is not all horribly bad, only some types were.
There were 3 main types of asbestos mined for industrial purposes. These were called Brown, White, and Blue asbestos, due to their colors.
Only about 5% of the asbestos mined was reibeckite, known as Blue Asbestos, which was the one that was very harmful (there are other harmfull asbestoform minerals, but most were not ever mined industrially. Some random, possibly harmful asbestoform minerals are formed in the flash heating mica to make that fluffy stuff that goes into flower pot mixtures... not perlite, the other flaky stuff, whatever it is called). This mineral has a more rigid crystal structure then the other two, thus it was capable of doing much more damage in the lung. Brown and white asbestoses were somewhat safer.
I got this from my geology book a few years ago, but a survey was done a while back to determine asbestosis and related disease rates in asbestos mine workers. What they found was:
Blue asbestos mine workers had INSANE amounts of problems.
White and Brown asbestos mine workers had... less problems then the general populous. So the general populous had, on average, more harmful jobs then White and Brown asbestos mine workers. The stuff was quite frankly relatively safe compared to so many other things people do or are around at their jobs. It has, though, been shown to have effects in the lab such as in rats... so it is not entirely benign. And one would have trouble telling this to a person who has lung cancer and believes it due to asbestos exposure (possible, again it is not perfectly benign).
That study was done, however, after the government had gotten it's hands on the word 'Asbestos'. All asbestoform things were banned, and the masses told that asbestos was bad.
I for one would never do well without my asbestos gloves for glass blowing. Developing 'asbestos fingers' can only go so far before one's skin actually does sear. These gloves are made of brown asbestos, is I remember correctly. Fortunately, I also already wear a dust mask in the hopes that I do not get something similar to asbestosis, siliconiosis. It's basically the same thing, only specific to those who are around tiny glass particles all the time. In fact, it's the exact same thing. Also, there's Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, which is specific for volcanic ash, but again the same thing, essentially.
An odd historical side note: I heard a story somewhere that Charlamange has an asbestos shirt woven. One party, he made a particular mess of himself on purpose. He then took his shirt off, and threw it into the fire. Later it was removed, with the impurities burned away. Needless to say, the nobles were impressed enough to have it recorded in the history books. Some sources I see on the internet now say it was a tablecloth, but still, the concept is there.
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