There's a subject area dedicated entirely to the study of things that
are supposed to make things better, but make them worse.<p>It is "Iatrogenics".<p>It includes a surprising number of medicines, surgical procedures and
interventions once thought to be "health-giving".
"Asbestos Cigarettes’ Related Diseases... Crocidolite asbestos in Kent Micronite cigarettes is known to cause the following diseases: Lung cancer, Mesothelioma, Laryngeal cancer, Ovarian cancer, Asbestosis."<p>Recent studies have linked asbestos exposure to an increased risk of ovarian cancer, particularly among people who used asbestos-contaminated talcum powder. However, if you're getting ovarian cancer from these cigarettes, chances are you're smoking them wrong.
Oddly, I used to work with someone whose previous role was with the lawyer-led company that bought and runs asbestos.com<p>You know the article "I sell onions on the internet?". Well, you make a lot more money - and I do mean a lot more - selling leads to class action lawyers the way asbestos.com does.
Our 1948 house has asbestos cement shingle siding, which I imagine was the vinyl siding of its day back when.<p>We just leave it the hell alone and don't touch it unless we absolutely have to, and are happy with having a "mint green" house for now until eternity.<p>Admittedly it's done a good job of protecting the underlying wood siding, which would become its own expensive, ongoing, and laborious maintenance task.
There's a certain irony in the fact a feature supposed to improve safety actually made an already dangerous thing massively more dangerous. That's got to be the most cancerous product ever brought to market that didn't outright irradiate its user.
This sounds really bad.<p>I recently read the famous The Travels of Marco Polo by Rustichello da Pisa and remember calling this chapter out for my wife in delight of recognizing asbestos:<p><i>Everybody must be aware that it can be no animal's nature to live in fire, seeing that every animal is composed of all the four elements. Now I, Marco Polo, had a Turkish acquaintance of the name of Zurficar, and he was a very clever fellow. And this Turk related to Messer Marco Polo how he had lived three years in that region on behalf of the Great Kaan, in order to procure those Salamanders for him. He said that the way they got them was by digging in that mountain till they found a certain vein. The substance of this vein was then taken and crushed, and when so treated it divides as it were into fibres of wool, which they set forth to dry. When dry, these fibres were pounded in a great copper mortar, and then washed, so as to remove all the earth and to leave only the fibres like fibres of wool. These were then spun, and made into napkins. When first made these napkins are not very white, but by putting them into the fire for a while they come out as white as snow. And so again whenever they become dirty they are bleached by being put in the fire.</i><p><i>Now this, and nought else, is the truth about the Salamander, and the people of the country all say the same. Any other account of the matter is fabulous nonsense. And I may add that they have at Rome a napkin of this stuff, which the Grand Kaan sent to the Pope to make a wrapper for the Holy Sudarium of Jesus Christ.</i><p><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Travels_of_Marco_Polo/Book_1/Chapter_42" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Travels_of_Marco_Polo/Boo...</a><p>You probably wouldn't want to handle Holy Sudarium of Jesus Christ either.
> only one of these products was designed to be placed in a person’s mouth while they inhaled<p>Similar though were the WW2 gas masks that contained asbestos!
While talking about asbestos ... not enough people know they are are consuming food everyday that's classified by WHO as class 1 carcinogen (in the same group as asbestos and smoking), causing not only cancers of the stomach, bowels and prostate, but also contributing to other chronic illnesses like hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, copd ...<p>It's processed meat (bacon, ham, sausages, salami, corned beef, jerky, hot dogs, lunch meat, canned meat, chicken nuggets, and meat-based sauces) and (in the 2a category) red meat (beef, horse meat, mutton, venison, boar, hare, game).<p><a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/cancer-carcinogenicity-of-the-consumption-of-red-meat-and-processed-meat" rel="nofollow">https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/can...</a><p><a href="https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/why-processed-meat-is-bad" rel="nofollow">https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/why-processed-meat-is-b...</a><p><a href="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/1197F/production/_86336027_cancerous_meat_624.png" rel="nofollow">https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/1197F/production...</a>
They should have put radium paint in the filter as well.<p>"Have trouble finding your butts when you drop them on a dark night? With Kent Microlite cigarettes with radium this is a problem no more! Four out of five surviving doctors who smoke cigarettes recommend Kent Microlite cigarettes, now with radium!"<p>"Kent Microlite cigarettes x-ray your lungs for you! With radium!"<p>There's a lot of great copy in there.
Sheesh.<p>Be sure to keep your cigarettes safe in a case made of U-235—conveniently designed to fit right in your shirt pocket. Also be sure to try our cocaine-laced wine[^1] aged in fine lead bottles!<p>[^1]: A real thing once, if I'm not mistaken.
Great jingle though:<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQsRx1lz0o8" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQsRx1lz0o8</a>
I know they used asbestos to filter beer in 20th century. Was considered safe, since it didn't get in contact with air. Obviously abandoned practice nowerdays.
"Fire Safe Cigarettes" - now required by law in the US - are the modern way to kill smokers faster than tobacco otherwise would. I'm convinced that they were pushed through by the anti-smoking groups as a purely homicidal, punitive measure. The toxicity tests were fudged (by including cigarettes which turned out not to be fire safe)[1].<p>1. <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fire-safe-cigarette-laws_b_519867" rel="nofollow">https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fire-safe-cigarette-laws_b_51...</a>