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Ep 118 Asbestos: Corruption and cancer and corporate greed, oh my!

This Podcast Will Kill You

CHAPTER

The History of Asbestos

The word asbestos comes from the Greek meaning unquenchable or inextinguishable. In ancient Rome, the wicks in lamps used by the Vestal Virgins were made of asbestos so that they would burn forever as long as there was oil in the lamp. Charlemagne allegedly had a tablecloth woven with asbestos and he would use it as like a party trick to spill wine or meat sauce on it. There are also references to asbestos napkins that could be similarly cleansed by fire which hints at another earlier name for asbestos, amiantis,.

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