n 1860, Thomas M. Armstrong, the son of Scotish-Irish immigrants from Londonderry, joined with John D. Glass to open a one-room shop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, carving bottle stoppers from cork by hand. Their first deliveries were made in a wheelbarrow. He was a business pioneer in some respects: he branded each cork he shipped as early as 1864, and soon was putting a written guarantee in each burlap bag of corks he shipped from his big new factory. The company grew to be the largest cork supplier in the world by the 1890s. The company incorporated in 1891. Cork began being displaced by other closures, but the company introduced insulating corkboard and brick. In 1906, two years before he died, Thomas Armstrong concluded that the solid foundation of the future was covered with linoleum, and construction began on a new factory in a cornfield at the edge of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 1909, Armstrong linoleum was first offered to the trade. After corkboard, the logical move was to fiberboard, and then to ceiling board. Cork tile and linoleum led to vinyl flooring, then ceramic tile, laminate flooring and carpeting. Armstrong Holdings Inc. used to produce asbestos, either of two incombustible, chemical-resistant, fibrous mineral forms of impure magnesium silicate, used for fireproofing, electrical insulation, building materials, brake linings, and chemical filters, before they started to manufacture interior furnishings, however, on November 16, 2000 it was reported that …
Archive for the ‘Asbestos’ Category
1965 Armstong asbestos tile commercial
Monday, March 15th, 2010About Asbestos Regulation
Saturday, March 13th, 2010Asbestos can be a source of great danger to those who work with it or have been exposed to it. Old houses and buildings that were built between the years 1950 and 1973 could just test positive for the presence of asbestos. Once damaged or disturbed, the materials that release the asbestos fibers into the air may cause serious lung disorders when inhaled.
The government is concerned about how to regulate and manage the repairing, maintaining and removal of asbestos materials. This has resulted in many asbestos laws and regulations passed by the government to bring down the potential hazards related to asbestos so that people can be protected from the harmful effects of asbestos. There are a couple of government agencies that are primarily concerned with creating asbestos rules and regulations.
The CPSC or the Consumer Product Safety Commission deals with asbestos regulations in consumer products and this area is its prime concern. The agency not only provides general information related to asbestos that may be present in your house but they also set guidelines for the removal and repairing of asbestos and also have laboratories for testing.
The second agency is the EPA or the Environment Protection Agency. As exposure to asbestos is most often accomplished through fibers that are present in the air, this agency is the prime government instrumentality that manages rules and regulations that are related to asbestos to protect the public.
There are two prime asbestos regulations that are enforced by the EPA. The first one is the Clean Air Act (CAA) and is managed by the EPA. The second, called the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Asbestos, is an example of asbestos regulation formulated to bring down the risks when exposed to asbestos.
The TSCA – Toxic Substances Control Act is managed and administered by the authorities of OPPT – the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics or by another state or other local equivalents. There are other two asbestos regulation Acts under the TSCA – the ASHARA that is the Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Reauthorization Act and AHERA – Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act.
OSHA – Occupational Safety and Health Administration is a body that was mainly set up for the protection of workers who are exposed to asbestos in their workplace. The agency not only sets standards at work premises but also has certain regulations that protect the employees from exposure during the course of their work. They offer technical assistance and consultation programs and they reach out to the employers and employees. The other service that the agency provides is Asbestos Advisor 2.0, a software program that gives details about federal asbestos regulations. To get more information one must visit their website or get in touch with the Department of Industries and Labor.
Dr. Davis talks about asbestos
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Asbestos Tile Source Guide
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010Asbestos tiles were pretty popular back then in the US from 1920 to the 1960s. Nobody knew anything about the side effects of asbestos. Asbestos were used to manufacture brake pads, filtered cigarettes, electric ovens, battle ships, even asbestos tiles! Imagine that.Then somebody came along and blew the whistle on asbestos and said, “Asbestos is responsible for serious respiratory illnesses such as mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer. Do you want my filtered cigarette?”Since then many countries have banned the use of asbestos in many common household and industry items. Asbestos tiles went out of style. Or at least it was supposed to.According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, asbestos content in floor and ceiling tiles is safe as long as it doesn’t exceed 1%. But problem is it can range anywhere from 0% to 70%, which is more than enough to poison everyone living under the roof.The color of the tile is a good indicator of its asbestos content. Dark colored tiles usually have higher concentrations of asbestos, but of course that doesn’t mean all dark colored tiles contain asbestos. Always make it a point to ask the dealer to show you only asbestos-free tiles.The thing with asbestos tiles is that they are safe as long as the asbestos doesn’t spread into the air. This happens when the tile is cracked or chipped by another hard object.For this reason, asbestos tiles are much safer to use as ceiling tiles than floor tiles. But even so, avoid using asbestos tiles if you can help it – floor or ceiling.For more information and tips On Asbestos Tile Source Guide visit, http://asbestos-tile.info