Textile Garments

Asbestos in Textile Garments and Other Safety Equipment

One of the properties of asbestos that made it so useful is the fact that it consisted of fibers which, like those of cotton, jute and even polyester, can be woven into fabrics - with the additional advantage of natural fire resistance. Fire blankets made from asbestos fabric were once a common piece of safety equipment used by fire fighters, the military, racing pit crews and industries in which workers ran the risk of burn injuries. Asbestos canvas was used to wrap boilers and steam pipes. Protective fire suits and headgear worn by firefighters, racing drivers and petroleum industry workers were lined with asbestos, as were the protective gloves and aprons used around blast furnaces in steel mills.

Burn injuries are extremely painful and debilitating, and there is little doubt that asbestos textiles and fabrics have saved thousands of people from suffering. Unfortunately the it was later learned that asbestos exposure led to mesothelioma, an incurable form of asbestos cancer that has affected hundreds of thousands of people over the years.

Textile garments woven from asbestos fabric were in wide use from the late 19th century through the late 1970s in a wide variety of occupations and industrial and military workplaces. They were manufactured by literally hundreds of makers and labels.

Hazards Associated with Textile Garment Products

New, unused asbestos textile garments did not pose any particular asbestos risk to the people who wore them, although textile operators were certainly at risk as they worked the mills and looms to weave large quantities of asbestos into fabric. When asbestos-based textile garments were damaged or became worn with age and use, however, the asbestos fibers in the cloth would begin to degrade and would become so fragile and delicate that they could crumble at a mere touch. Garments in that condition had the potential to release a steady stream of asbestos particles when they were worn or moved, and those fibers would have posed a major health risk to the people wearing the garments as well as anyone in the vicinity. Inhalation of asbestos fibers has been conclusively linked to the development of an asbestos cancer known as mesothelioma.

Sources

Bowker, Michael. Fatal Deception: The Untold Story of Asbestos (New York: Touchstone, 2003)