Not just in homes

Asbestos has been used in stove elements, exhausts, vinyl floor tiles and thousands of other day to day items, mainly because of its unique ability to insulate from heat and act as a binder. In actual fact, it won’t burn and is resistant to wear. This is why it was used universally in brake pads, right up until 2003 when it was banned – well, in Australia at least.

The above advertisement (circa 1960’s) from the Asbestos Information Centre (London) and similar campaigns from others, formed part of a PR and lobbying group promoting the virtues of asbestos and dispelling the health concerns. This was common at the time with the emphasis on keeping “…the communication side of the (asbestos) problem under control” (quote from Defending the Indefensible, By Jock McCulloch and Geoffrey Tweedale, O,xford Univerfsity Press, 2008.