In the late 19^th century, asbestos became a building material of choice. Resistant to heat, electricity and corrosion, it found many uses including home insulation, brake pads and ship-building. By the time that the first health problems were reported, the material was commonplace. In the UK, the material was only restricted in 1983 after thousands of people were exposed during the post-war era. The result is a latent epidemic of related diseases including a rare type of cancer called mesothelioma, which is becoming more common and is only expected to peak in incidence over the next decade or so.
The glacial pace with which governments started to regulate asbestos use has put thousands of lives in jeopardy and it's a disaster that we could do with not repeating. But while asbestos is yesterday's construction material, a new substance being heralded as the building material of tomorrow has the potential to ...
