Signs You May Have Asbestos in Your House

If you’re buying a home or doing some makeover, you need to be careful about the presence of asbestos on the walls and other surfaces. Asbestos refers to a mixture of naturally-occurring minerals that are used in building materials. However, the use of this mineral is curtailed because exposure to it can lead to a variety of severe diseases. While your naked eye can’t see asbestos due to its colorless and odorless nature, there are ways to determine whether your home is contaminated with this toxic mineral. Keep reading this article to learn a few signs that can indicate the … Continue reading

The Dangers of Asbestos

The use of asbestos has been a widespread issue that continues to impact countries on a global scale. As a favored material used in buildings and construction projects throughout the 20th century, asbestos held an incredible appeal as a mineral known for its heat and fire resistant properties. For decades, this substance was synonymous with manufacturing and development. However, it was soon discovered that once asbestos was disturbed or damaged, the fibrous material could have a fatal effect on those that came into contact with it. Asbestos in the United States Despite its known dangers, asbestos continues to pose a … Continue reading

Environmental and Health Impacts of Asbestos

Asbestos is an infamous building and construction material that gained popularity in the 20th century due to its fire-resistant properties. Asbestos’ first commercial mine was opened in 1879 in Quebec province, Canada. It took several years of production and consumption of this material in several parts of the world before its health and environmental hazards were discovered. Australia was one of the heaviest global consumers of asbestos in the 1980s with most of the materials being imported into the country from Canada and South Africa. The use of the material didn’t stop until a national ban was announced on December … Continue reading

Asbestos Waste Management in the MENA Countries

Each year countries from the Middle East and North Africa import large amount of asbestos for use in the construction industry. As per the last known statistics, the Middle East and Africa accounted for 20% of world demand for the material. Iran and the United Arab Emirates are among the biggest consumers of the material. Infact, the entire Middle East has been steadily increasing their asbestos imports, except for Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which are the only two countries that have placed bans on asbestos but with questionable effectiveness. Iran alone has been reported to order 30,000 tons of asbestos … Continue reading

The Environmental Impacts of Industrialization

Everything we do, from the food we eat to the electricity we use, affects the world around us — but it wasn’t always that way. The Industrial Revolution changed the way that we created everything, from food and energy to sanitation and manufacturing technologies, apart from the way we study. Amount of  “do my paper” messages from students to experts did not decrease even at that time. How has industrialization impacted the environment, and what can we do in the future to reduce these environmental impacts? The Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution started sometime in the middle of the 1700s, when … Continue reading