Interface Demography Working Paper 2016-2 The asbestos industry in Belgium (1945-2001) Laura Van den Borre* & Patrick Deboosere * Corresponding author E-mail:
[email protected] Phone: +32 2 614 81 44 Version: 29/01/2016 Interface Demography, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 5, B-1050 Brussel, Belgium Tel. ++32/(0)2/614 81 50 – FaX ++32/(0)2/614 81 35 Website: http://www.vub.ac.be/demography !1 The asbestos industry in Belgium (1945-2001) By Laura Van den Borre & Patrick Deboosere 29 January 2016 Introduction Belgium was a major international manufacturer of asbestos products in the post-war years. However, specific information on Belgian asbestos industries is scarcely available. In light of the serious health effects of asbestos exposure, knowledge on exposure circumstances is a vital key to understanding the magnitude of the asbestos problem in Belgium. De term ‘asbestos’ refers to a group of six naturally occurring minerals, as shown in figure 1. Because asbestos minerals can be split into microscopic fibres, numerous different applications are possible. Asbestos often occurs in blends with resin, cement or plastics. Uniquely, asbestos minerals can also be spun into textile. In addition to the versatility of the material, one of the main advantages is that asbestos remains unaffected by fire and heath. Asbestos is a durable, lightweight, electrically non-conductive material with great insulating properties due to a high resistance to water, acids and microorganisms. Finally, it has a number of economic advantages: it is abundant and inexpensive to mine. These advantages made asbestos, in many respects, an ideal material for an industrializing and electrifying world.1 Two mineralogical groups of asbestos can be discerned: serpentines and amphiboles.