Asbestos is in many things that you may not be aware of. Here is an unusual use highlighted for us by Irene Moore on the Collectors Club of Great Britain website.
We've included an excerpt below, but visit the website for the full article:
"After the widespread use of poison gas in the Great War it was expected that gas would also be a major factor in WWII so civilians as well as military personnel were provided with gas masks.
One can only hazard a guess at how many millions were manufactured but a company in Blackburn, Lancashire had a contract from the government in 1936 to make 70 million and production continued throughout the war.
However these collectable items, found at just about every militaria fair, may conceal a hidden danger from asbestos as the filter degrades releasing fibres into the mask and its container.
And now this is not the only risk to buyers and sellers – a recent EU regulation called REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals) makes it illegal to sell or transfer any items containing asbestos.
The health risks from asbestos used in gas mask filters – chrysotile (white asbestos) for civilian respirators and crocidolite (blue asbestos) for those equipping the armed forces – only came to light post-war when factory workers making the masks started showing abnormally high numbers of deaths from cancer...."
Asbestos kills!
Get some awareness training now! Prices start from £50.00 per person plus VAT. Email margaret@demolishdismantle.co.uk for more information.
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