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Chemical plants
Asbestos is one mineral that has the most number of properties. It is ductile, fire and heat resistant, and also resistant to chemicals and acids. As a result it was used quite extensively in chemical plants for various purposes. One application that required asbestos in large quantities was the insulation of furnaces, pipes, heat exchangers and other equipment. As a result people who worked closer to these equipments were most likely to be exposed to the asbestos. Even among the workers, the most affected were the ones who were involved in the repair and maintenance of these equipment. These workers would definitely have been required to work on asbestos insulated equipment like cleaning it, rubbing it, removing it and even cutting through it. All these activities would have involved the destruction and damaging of the asbestos mineral that would have led to the release of asbestos dust and fiber in the air. Apart from these set of workers those who were near to these workers would also have been exposed to the asbestos.
All these people who were exposed to the asbestos at that time now run the risk of developing asbestos related illnesses like lung cancer or mesothelioma. |
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