Some words in the asbestos story don't sit neatly in one field. This category collects them: everyday materials that once contained asbestos, the doctors and scientists whose work shaped what we know, and a few units and study names you'll meet in the record.
Several are products people handled at work and at home. Gaskets sealed pipe flanges and engine parts, and scraping or grinding out an old one could release fibers. Roofing felt was laid under shingles for decades, some Bakelite plastics were filled with asbestos, and "nuclear grade" gaskets and packing were made to strict standards for power plants and naval reactors.
Others are people. Paul Marchand described fibrous bodies in a textile worker's lungs early in the 20th century. C.A. Sleggs, a chest physician in Kimberley, South Africa, noticed an unusual cluster of pleural tumors in the 1950s. Melvin W. First studied dust control at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Every term below links to a full plain-language definition.
Terms in this category
- BakeliteBakelite is an early synthetic plastic made from phenol and formaldehyde, first produced in 1907 and widely u…
- BantuBantu refers to a large group of ethnolinguistic communities in sub-Saharan Africa, including many of the Bla…
- First, Melvin W.Melvin W. First (1914–2010) was an American industrial hygienist and Harvard School of Public Health professo…
- GasketA gasket is a seal placed between two joined surfaces, such as pipe flanges or engine parts, to prevent leaks…
- Klaproth, Martin HeinrichMartin Heinrich Klaproth (1743–1817) was a German chemist and one of the founders of modern analytical chemis…
- Marchand, PaulPaul Marchand was an early 20th-century French pathologist whose observations of fibrous bodies in the lungs …
- Nuclear Grade"Nuclear grade" describes materials made to especially strict purity and quality standards for use in nuclear…
- Plaque Margin EffectThe Plaque Margin Effect refers to the radiographic and pathologic observation that the edges of pleural plaq…
- Pollastri 2019Pollastri 2019 refers to a peer-reviewed study by Simone Pollastri and colleagues published in 2019 examining…
- Roofing FeltRoofing felt is a mat-like material laid down as a base layer under shingles and other roof coverings. For de…
- Sleggs, C.A.Christopher A. Sleggs was a British-trained thoracic physician who, while working at the West End Hospital in…
- Tpa (tonnes per annum)Tpa is an abbreviation meaning "tonnes per annum," or metric tons per year. It is a unit of measurement commo…
Terms in this category
Browse the full Lexicon, or talk it through with a member of our litigation team, not a screener, at 833-4-ASBESTOS.