Despite the fact that many people believe Asbestos to be man-made, it is in fact a naturally occurring silicate. It's been knocking around for a good 4,000 years, but people began mining it in earnest at the end of the 19th century due to its remarkable properties of insulation and fire resistance. We then began merrily stuffing it into everything from our buildings to our toothpaste and even chucking it around as fake snow come the festive season (the snow in The Wizard of Oz is really asbestos). Unfortunately, this wonder material will well and truly tear you a new one. As opposed to many other dangerous substances in the natural world, asbestos damage is not caused by toxicity or poisoning, but physical, mechanical damage. Tiny fibrous shards of silica are released whenever asbestos is handled and disturbed and will become lodged in the lungs of any unfortunate soul who happens to be nearby. The repeated damage to the lungs by asbestos shards causes severe scarring and eventually cancer. Despite the fact that Pliny the Younger wrote that he thought asbestos might be dangerous in the year AD 61, it wasn't until the mid-20th century that people started to cotton on to how nasty it is. It was so widely used that it's estimated that 50% of British homes still contain asbestos. Fun Fact: Charlemagne, yes, that Charlemagne, is said to have owned an asbestos tablecloth in the 8th century. He used to wow his dinner guest by throwing it into the fire after a meal and then retrieving it, unharmed, with all of the dirt and crumbs having burnt away.
