The History of

Miracle Mineral

PAINTING OF SLAVES IN MINES IN ANCIENT GREECE.

In 814, Charlemagne dies of pleurisy, an in!ammation of the membrane that surrounds and protects the lungs.

100:Health effects of asbestos exposure !rst notedby Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder in his work Natural History, calling it abestinon (means unquenchable).3

12TH CENTURY EDITION

EMPEROR CHARLEMAGNEBY ALBRECHT DURER .

1727:Asbestos is rediscovered by modern man Asbestos becomes a popular material used for building – chronicled by German scientist Franz Bruckmann.5

1820:Fireproof clothing Italian scientist Giovanni Aldini crafts !reproof clothing from asbestos.6

Possible Risk

1878:First commercial asbestos mine in North America opens Jeffery Mine in Asbestos, Quebec.7

1908: Federal Employers Liability Act(FELA) is a U.S. federal law enacted to protect and compensate railroad workers injured on the job, including injuries due to asbestos exposure.8

Asbestosis is a chronic, progressive in!ammation of the lung caused by asbestos exposure.

1939: Asbestos safety clothingAt the New York World's Fair, Johns Manville Corporation touts asbestos' service to humanity.10

Known Killer

Approximately one third of mesothelioma cases have been shown to involve U.S. Navy or shipyard exposures.

1943:Asbestos goes to war World War II is at its height; militaries world-wide are using asbestos for construction and shipbuilding.11

1943:Asbestos companies knew the dangers of asbestos "I'll never forget, I turned to Mr. Brown, one of the Browns made this crack (that Unarco managers were a bunch of fools for notifying employees who had asbestosis), and I said, "Mr. Brown, do you mean to tell me you would let them work until they dropped dead?' He said, `Yes. We save a lot of money that way.'" – Charles Roemer. April 25, 1984. (testimony describing the meeting between Unarco of!cials and Johns Manville President Louis Brown and Vandiver Brown, in 1942 or 1943.) 12

1949:Canadian miners demand better working conditionsThe great asbestos strike occurs in and around the town of Asbestos, Quebec.13

LA PATRIE, MONTREAL, JUNE 1949

1969:$1 Million in workers compensation paid out by Johns Manville—the largest U.S. producer of asbestos containing material—to 285 of its employees who had severe asbestosis. 14

Global Danger

During the following decade, 25,000 additional lawsuits were filed.

1973:First major asbestos lawsuitThe first trial in which a user of asbestos products — an insulation worker — won damages from the large asbestos manufacturers (Borel v. Fibreboard.)

1977: Sumner Simpson Papers New Jersey plaintiff's attorney catapults asbestos litigation into the limelight with the discovery of hidden documents detailing efforts to cover up the known health risks of asbestos. The so-called 'Sumner Simpson Papers' were introduced in court and used against defendant manufacturers.17

Since 1982 more than 70 corporations have !led for bankruptcy due to their involvement in asbestos liability suits.18

1982: 1,000 asbestos claimants300 !rms sued. $1 Billion spent by defendants & insurers. 19

1988: Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust Johns Manville Corporation emerges from bankruptcy, shifting its asbestos liabilities to a new entity known as the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust. 20

1991:EPA ban overturned The 1989 EPA regulation was overturned by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. As a result of the Court's decision, the following asbestos-containing products remain banned: !ooring felt, rollboard, and corrugated, commercial, or specialty paper.22

1989:EPA bans asbestos products On July 12, 1989, EPA issued a !nal rule banning most asbestos-containing products.21

1994:Mesothelioma recognized Mesothelioma is !rst recorded by the World Health Organization.23

1999 United Kingdom bans asbestos24

BANNED

2001:Airborne asbestos in NY Terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 release large quantities of asbestos into the air in New York City.25

NEW YORK TIMES, SEP. 2001

2002: 730,000 asbestos claimants8,400 !rms sued. $70 Billion spent by defendants & insurers.26

2003: $250 Million awarded The largest asbestos verdict for a single plaintiff in the United States. Whittington vs. US Steel.28

2004:100,000 asbestos-related deaths WHO report: Nearly 100,000 asbestos-related deaths have been recorded.27

2006: Armstrong World Industries Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust established 2,063 million collars in assets.20

2006:Owens Corning Fibreboard Asbestos Personal Injury Trust established.3,423 million dollars in assets.20

2009:ASARCO LLC Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust established 830 million dollars in assets.20

2011: All asbestos mining operations in Canada stop 29

MINING STOPPED

2012:Asbestos tycoons go to jail Italian court convicts Swiss business tycoon Stephan Schidheiny and a Belgian baron, Jean-Louis de Cartier, of negligence stemming from some 2,200 asbestos-related deaths in Italy before 1992.30

2012:Legal in the U.S. Despite being the cause of a global danger, asbestos is still widely used in the United States.

LA STAMPA, ITALY FEB.2012

STILL NO BAN

SOURCES:1. http://books.google.com/books?id=eYHEEWhye94C&lpg=PA447&pg=PA447#v=onepage&q&f=false 2. http://www.physics.smu.edu/pseudo/asbestosrevisited.pdf3. http://www.physics.smu.edu/pseudo/asbestosrevisited.pdf 4. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50B16F9395B157A93CAA9178ED85F438285F95. http://www.physics.smu.edu/pseudo/asbestosrevisited.pdf6. http://www.physics.smu.edu/pseudo/asbestosrevisited.pdf7. http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Anti+asbestos+movement+growing/6034668/story.html 8. http://www.hg.org/fela-federal-employers-liability.html9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2304688/?tool=pmcentrez 10. http://www.physics.smu.edu/pseudo/asbestosrevisited.pdf11. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ShJRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2cQMAAAAIBAJ&dq=asbestos%20world%20war&pg=7005%2C10242512. http://www.egilman.com/Documents/Asbestos/metlife/Met_Life_found_responsible_for_jm_product.pdf (page 57)m 13. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/featured/asbestos-strike14. http://www.econ.ucsd.edu/~miwhite/asbestos-jep-!nal.pdf15. ttp://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ShJRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2cQMAAAAIBAJ&dq= asbestos%20world%20war&pg=7005%2C102425 16. http://www.econ.ucsd.edu/~miwhite/asbestos-jep-!nal.pdf17. http://www.triallawyersinc.com/asbestos/asb02.html18. http://www.econ.ucsd.edu/~miwhite/asbestos-jep-!nal.pdf 19. http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/faculty_scholarship/1833/20. http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/2010/RAND_TR872.pdf21. http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/pubs/ban.html22. http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/pubs/ban.html23. http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/10/11-086678.pdf 24. http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/10/11-086678/en/25. http://www.osha.gov/nyc-disaster/wtc.html26. http://www.econ.ucsd.edu/~miwhite/asbestos-jep-!nal.pdf27. http://www.econ.ucsd.edu/~miwhite/asbestos-jep-!nal.pdf28. http://www.simmons!rm.com/news-mesothelioma-US-steel-award.html29. http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/10/11-086678.pdf 30. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17016110