Abstract

Asbestos is a natural mineral that was, and unfortunately still is, used a lot by mankind because of the outstanding properties of the substance. It is durable, strong, electricand heat-resistant and, last but not least, cheap. The discovery of these properties was made millennia ago in ancient Greek, and thus the mining and use of asbestos was initiated over 2000 years ago. During the middle ages, the use of asbestos declined, but in the documents remaining, several descriptions of asbestos use were described. For example, Charlemagne (2 April 747 or 748 – 28 January 814) convinced his guests that he had supernatural powers by throwing his asbestos tablecloth into a fire, and then pulling it out without any singe mark of burning1. Marco Polo wore fire-resistant clothing made from fibrous material on his travels in the Ural Mountains in the 13th century1. The popularity of the material clearly increased in the 19th century, when asbestos was massively used during the industrial revolution. It further increased in the 20th century; a total of 174 million tons of asbestos was mined during these 100 years2. Despite asbestos bans in a growing number of countries worldwide, in the year 2013, a total of 1.94 million tons of asbestos was mined3. In the Netherlands, the population mainly exposed to asbestos were employees in ship construction and maintenance, general construction and isolation activities4. The main locations of asbestos exposure for workers in the Netherlands were Den Helder, Rotterdam and Vlissingen due to the ship building industries. In addition, the Eternit factory in Goor and the Asbestona factory in Harderwijk manufactured asbestos-based products which resulted in significant local asbestos exposure5–7. Also, a considerable number of people were exposed indirectly to asbestos e.g. due to the cleaning of the working clothes by the housemates.

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J.G.J.V. Aerts (Joachim)
Erasmus University Rotterdam
The studies presented in this thesis were conducted at the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at the Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, with financial support from Stichting Asbestkanker and the Meso Foundation Printing of this thesis was financially supported by Amgen B.V., Boehringer Ingelheim B.V., Chiesi Pharmaceuticals B.V., Hitachi Medical Systems, Olympus Nederland B.V., Pfizer Oncology, ProStrakan Pharma B.V., and Verastem, Inc.
hdl.handle.net/1765/77931
Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam

Cornelissen, R. (2015, April 8). The Tumor and its Microenvironment in Mesothelioma. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/77931