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In 1879 the first Commercial Production of Asbestos insulation material begins. 20 years later in 1899 was described the First Case of mesothelioma by Murray "Curious Bodies". In 1906 Auribault reported first case of asbestos lung disease; Linked 50 deaths to asbestos dust in Weaving Mill.
In 1934 Wood & Gloyne made Review of the first one hundred cases of asbestosis they had seen -- includes 2 cases of individuals working outdoors; 1 office worker; boiler-riveter. Two cases had serious lung cancer.
In 1935 Lanza published a Survey of U.S. Mines and Mills -- 126 random exams (all more than three years of exposure) 67 cases of asbestosis. Dust control only partly effective; industry must face this problem.
In 1938 Lanza reports 1931 British regulations applied to all factories and workshops where asbestos containing products were either manufactured or sold.
In 1946 Fleischer in U.S. Navy Survey of three shipyards reported high dust counts during cutting, sawing, mixing asbestos products. Disease expected among workers in these operations. Clinical survey found three cases of asbestosis among the 51 men with more than ten years experience in the yards
In 1955 Schepers Reports asbestos containing insulation products produce asbestosis in animals
An article by Wagner, published in the British Journal of Industrial Medicine in 1960, first established mesothelioma as a disease arising from exposure to crocidolite asbestos. The article ("Diffused Pleural Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure in the North Western Cape Province") referred to over 30 case studies of people who had suffered from mesothelioma in South Africa. Some exposures were transient and some were mine workers.
In 1962 Dr McNulty reported the first diagnosed case of malignant mesothelioma in an Australian asbestos worker in the Medical Journal of Australia. The worker had worked in the mill at the asbestos mine in Wittenoom from 1948 to 1950.
In 1965 an article in the British Journal of Industrial Medicine established that people who lived in the neighbourhoods of asbestos factories and mines, but did not work in them, had contracted mesothelioma.
Despite proof that the dust associated with asbestos mining and milling causes asbestos related disease, mining began at Wittenoom in 1943 and continued until 1966. It is difficult to understand why the mine and mill was allowed to initially open and operate without adequate risk control measures; and why nothing was done to force the owner (CSR) to clean them up, adopt safer work practices or close down their operations.
In 1974 the first public warnings of the dangers of blue asbestos were published in a cover story called "Is this Killer in Your Home?" in Australia's Bulletin magazine. In 1978 the Western Australian Government decided to phase out the town of Wittenoom, following the publication of a Health Dept. booklet, "The Health Hazard at Wittenoom", containing the results of air sampling and an appraisal of worldwide medical information
By 1979 the first writs for negligence related to Witternoom were issued against CSR and its subsidiary ABA, and the Asbestos Diseases Society was formed to represent the Wittenoom victims.
Related to Mesothelioma sites:
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