an excusable work-related disease. the term mesothelioma was first used in medical literature in 1931; its association with asbestos was first noted sometime in the 1940s. similar legislation followed in the u.s. about ten years later. approximately 100,000 people in the united states have died, or are terminally ill, from asbestos exposure related to shipbuilding. in the hampton roads area, a shipbuilding center, mesothelioma occurrence is seven times the national rate. thousands of tons of asbestos were used in world war ii ships to insulate piping, boilers, steam engines, and steam turbines. there were approximately 4.3 million shipyard workers in the united states during the war; for every 1,000 workers, about 14 died of mesothelioma and an unknown number died of asbestosis. the united states government and the asbestos industry have been criticized for not acting quickly enough to inform the public of dangers and to reduce public exposure. in the late 1970s, court documents proved that asbestos industry officials knew of asbestos dangers since the 1930s and had concealed them from the public. in australia, asbestos was widely used in construction and other industries between 1946 and 1980. from the 1970s, there was increasing concern about the dangers of asbestos, and its use was phased out, with mining having ceased in 1983. the use of asbestos was phased out in 1989 and banned entirely in december 2003. the dangers of asbestos are now well known in australia, and there is help and support for those suffering from asbestosis or mesothelioma. serpentine group in guy's hospital, london, 1941, nurses arrange asbestos blankets over an electrically heated frame to create a hood over patients to help warm them quickly serpentine minerals have a sheet or layered structure. chrysotile (commonly known as white asbestos) is the only asbestos mineral in the serpentine group. in the united states, chrysotile has been the most commonly used type of asbestos. according to the u.s. environmental protection agency (epa) asbestos building inspectors manual, chrysotile accounts for approximately 95% of asbestos found in buildings in the united states. chrysotile is often present in a wide variety of products and materials, including: chlor alkali diaphragm membranes used to make chlorine (currently in the us) drywall and joint compound (including texture coats) plaster gas mask filters throughout world war ii until the 1960s for most countries; germany and the ussr's civilian issued filters up until 1988 tested positive for asbestos vinyl floor tiles, sheeting, adhesives roofing tars, felts, siding, and shingles "transite" panels, siding, countertops, and pipes popcorn ceilings, also known as acoustic ceilings fireproofing caulk industrial and marine gaskets brake pads and shoes stage curtains fire blankets interior fire doors fireproof clothing for firefighters thermal pipe insulation filters for removing fine particulates from chemicals, liquids, and wine dental cast linings hvac flexible duct connectors drilling fluid additives in the european union and australia, it has been banned as a potential health hazard and is no longer used at all. example of asbestos cement siding and lining on a post-war temporary house in yardley, birmingham. nearly 40,000 of these structures were built between 1946 and 1949 to house families an asbestos glove the m60 machine gun crew member responsible for a hot barrel change was issued protective asbestos gloves to prevent burns to the hands a household heat spreader for cooking on gas stoves, made of asbestos (probably 1950s; "amiante pur" is french for "pure asbestos") gasket, containing nearly unbound asbestos amphibole group amphiboles including amosite (brown asbestos) and crocidolite (blue asbestos) were formerly used in many products until the early 1980s. tremolite asbestos constituted a contaminant of many if not all naturally occurring chrysotile deposits. the use of all types of asbestos in the amphibole group was banned in much of the western world by the mid-1980s, and in japan by 1995. some products that included amphibole types of asbestos included the following: low-density insulating board (often referred to as aib or asbestos insulating board) and ceiling tiles; asbestos cement sheets and pipes for construction, casing for water and electrical/telecommunication services; thermal and chemical insulation (e.g., fire-rated doors, limpet spray, lagging, and gaskets). cigarette manufacturer lorillard (kent's filtered cigarette) used crocidolite asbestos in its "micronite" filter from 1952 to 1956. while mostly chrysotile asbestos fibers were once used in automobile brake pads, shoes, and clutch discs, contaminants of amphiboles were present. since approximately the mid-1990s, brake pads, new or replacement, have been manufactured instead with linings made of ceramic, carbon, metallic, and aramid fiber (twaron or kevlar—the same material used in bulletproof vests). artificial christmas snow, known as flocking, was previously made with asbestos. it was used as an effect in films including the wizard of oz and department store window displays and it was marketed for use in private homes under brand names that included "pure white", "snow drift" and "white magic". potential use in carbon sequestration the potential for use of asbestos to mitigate climate change has been raised. although the adverse aspects of mining of minerals, including health effects, must be taken into account, exploration of the use of mineral wastes to sequester carbon is being studied. the use of mining waste materials from nickel, copper, diamond, and platinum mines have the potential as well, but asbestos may have the greatest potential and is the subject of research now in progress in an emerging field of scientific study to examine it. the most common type of asbestos, chrysotile, chemically reacts with co2 to produce ecologically stable magnesium carbonate. chrysotile, like all types of asbestos, has a large surface area that provides more places for chemical reactions to occur, compared to most other naturally occurring materials. developed countries older decorative ceilings, similar to this one, may contain small amounts of white asbestos 1929 newspaper advertisement from perth, western australia, for asbestos sheeting for residential building construction the use of asbestos in new construction projects has been banned for health and safety reasons in many developed countries or regions, including the european union, the united kingdom, australia, hong kong, japan, and new zealand. a notable exception is the united states, where asbestos continues to be used in construction such as cement asbestos pipes. the 5th circuit court prevented the epa from banning asbestos in 1991 because epa research showed the ban would cost between us$450 and 800 million while only saving around 200 lives in a 13-year timeframe, and that the epa did not provide adequate evidence for the safety of alternative products. until the mid-1980s, small amounts of white asbestos were used in the manufacture of artex, a decorative stipple finish, however, some of the lesser-known suppliers of artex-type materials were still adding white asbestos until 1999. before the ban, asbestos was widely used in the construction industry in thousands of materials. some are judged to be more dangerous than others due to the amount of asbestos and the material's friable nature. sprayed coatings, pipe insulation, and asbestos insulating board (aib) are thought to be the most dangerous due to their high content of asbestos and friable nature. many older buildings built before the late 1990s contain asbestos. in the united states, there is a minimum standard for asbestos surveys as described by astm standard e 2356–18. in the uk, the health and safety executive have issued guidance called hsg264 describing how surveys should be completed although other methods can be used if they can demonstrate they have met the regulations by other means. the epa includes some, but not all, asbestos-contaminated facilities on the superfund national priorities list (npl). renovation and demolition of asbestos-contaminated buildings are subject to epa neshap and osha regulations. asbestos is not a material covered under cercla's innocent purchaser defense. in the uk, the removal and disposal of asbestos and substances containing it are covered by the control of asbestos regulations 2006. u.s. asbestos consumption hit a peak of 804,000 tons in 1973; world asbestos demand peaked around 1977, with 25 countries producing nearly 4.8 million metric tons annually. in older buildings (e.g. those built before 1999 in the uk, before white asbestos was banned), asbestos may still be present in some areas. being aware of asbestos locations reduces the risk of disturbing asbestos. removal of asbestos building components can also remove the fire protection they provide, therefore fire protection substitutes are required for proper fire protection that the asbestos originally provided. outside europe and north america some countries, such as india, indonesia, china, russia, and brazil, have continued widespread use of asbestos. the most common is corrugated asbestos-cement sheets or "a/c sheets" for roofing and sidewalls. millions of homes, factories, schools or sheds, and shelters continue to use asbestos. cutting these sheets to size and drilling holes to receive 'j' bolts to help secure the sheets to roof framing is done on-site. there has been no significant change in production and use of a/c sheets in developing countries following the widespread restrictions in developed nations. september 11 attacks as new york city's world trade center collapsed following the september 11 attacks, lower manhattan was blanketed in a mixture of building debris and combustible materials. this complex mixture gave rise to the concern that thousands of residents and workers in the area would be exposed to known hazards in the air and dust, such as asbestos, lead, glass fibers, and pulverized concrete. more than 1,000 tons of asbestos are thought to have been released into the air following the buildings' destruction. inhalation of a mixture of asbestos and other toxicants is thought to be linked to the unusually high death rate from cancer of emergency service workers since the disaster. thousands more are now thought to be at risk of developing cancer due to this exposure with those who have died so far being only the "tip of the iceberg". in may 2002, after numerous cleanup, dust collection, and air monitoring activities were conducted outdoors by epa, other federal agencies, new york city, and the state of new york, new york city formally requested federal assistance to clean and test residences in the vicinity of the world trade center site for airborne asbestos. vermiculite vermiculite is a hydrated laminar magnesium-aluminum-iron silicate that resembles mica. it can be used for many industrial applications and has been used as insulation. some deposits of vermiculite are contaminated with small amounts of asbestos. one vermiculite mine operated by w. r. grace and company in libby, montana exposed workers and community residents to danger by mining vermiculite contaminated with asbestos, typically richterite, winchite, actinolite or tremolite. vermiculite contaminated with asbestos from the libby mine was used as insulation in residential and commercial buildings through canada and the united states. w. r. grace and company's loose-fill vermiculite was marketed as zonolite but was also used in sprayed-on products such as monokote. in 1999, the epa began cleanup efforts in libby and now the area is a superfund cleanup area. the epa has determined that harmful asbestos is released from the mine as well as through other activities that disturb soil in the area. talc a laboratory heat spreader made of asbestos, on a tripod over a teclu burner talc can sometimes be contaminated with asbestos due to the proximity of asbestos ore (usually tremolite) in underground talc deposits. by 1973, us federal law required all talc products to be asbestos-free, and today there is strict quality control in the production of talc products. separating cosmetic-grade talc (e.g. talcum powder) from industrial-grade talc (often used in friction products) has largely eliminated this issue for consumers. in 2000, tests in a certified asbestos-testing laboratory found the tremolite form of amphibole asbestos used to be found in three out of eight popular brands of children's crayons that were made partly from talc: crayola, prang, and roseart. in crayola crayons, the tests found asbestos levels around 0.05% in carnation pink and 2.86% in orchid; in prang crayons, the range was from 0.3% in periwinkle to 0.54% in yellow; in rose art crayons, it was from 0.03% in brown to 1.20% in orange. overall, 32 different types of crayons from these brands used to contain more than trace amounts of asbestos, and eight others contained trace amounts. the art and creative materials institute, a trade association which tested the safety of crayons on behalf of the makers, initially insisted the