{"id":7502,"date":"2022-05-20T22:57:27","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T22:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asbestosclaims.law\/?post_type=blog&p=7502"},"modified":"2023-02-13T23:58:56","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T23:58:56","slug":"who-was-asbestos-man","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.asbestosclaims.law\/es\/asbestos-blog\/quien-era-asbestos-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Was Asbestos Man?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Even the most loyal Fantastic Four aficionados are probably unfamiliar with Orson Kasloff<\/a>, a\/k\/a Asbestos Man, a nefarious rapscallion from the early 1960s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Fireproof Supervillain<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Professor Kasloff was one of the world\u2019s foremost analytical chemists. Like many other people inside and outside of comic books, Kasloff turned to crime to supplement his income. However, his skills as a scientist greatly exceeded his skills as a bank robber. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, like many other would-be super villains before and after him, Kasloff created a gimmick and challenged an established hero, in order to make a name for himself. In this case, the gimmick was an asbestos suit and the hero was the Human Torch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Background on Asbestos<\/h5>\n

Asbestos is a mineral that is fibrous and can be woven into fabric. Asbestos is resistant to fire, chemicals and other elements, and asbestos cloth is similarly fireproof. Before its health dangers were well known by the public, firefighters and performers both used asbestos suits to contend with fire without being burned.\n<\/p>\n <\/td>\n <\/tr>\n <\/tbody>\n <\/table>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Asbestos Man vs. The Fantastic Four\u2019s Johnny Storm (aka The Human Torch)<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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In Round One, Johnny Storm went down hard to Asbestos Man. Storm\u2019s fire powers were useless against Kasloff\u2019s asbestos armor. But like all good heroes do, the Human Torch bounced back in Round Two. When Asbestos Man attempted another bank robbery, a rejuvenated Torch showed up, absorbed all oxygen in the bank, and forced Asbestos Man to surrender. About fifty years later, Storm casually mentioned that Kasloff had succumbed to cancer and died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In case you\u2019re curious, Asbestos Man isn\u2019t related to Asbestos Lady<\/a>, a\/k\/a Victoria Murdock, a World War II-era villainess who wore an asbestos miniskirt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Image source: https:\/\/www.marvel.com\/characters\/asbestos-man<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Life Imitates Art<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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In the early 1960s, most people knew that asbestos, a common fireproofing material which, in truth, could probably take a blast from the Human Torch, was dangerous. But, they didn\u2019t know how dangerous it was. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Builders, who prized asbestos because of its low cost, created the myth that some minor precautions could protect workers from the toxic effects of asbestos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latency: Asbestos Can Take Up To Fifty Years To Harm You<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Asbestos illnesses<\/a> have a very long latency period. That means it takes a long time after exposure for any symptoms of the illness to appear. It can take decades, even up to fifty years, for a person to be aware of their asbestos illness. But all the while, microscopic asbestos fibers are causing damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dangers of Asbestos Catch Up With Asbestos Man<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Comic book villains like Asbestos Man and Asbestos Lady challenged that myth. It\u2019s probably saying too much to give these two fictional characters credit for the partial asbestos ban which occurred in the late 1970s. However, they contributed to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fate of Asbestos Man Was Like Many Industrial Workers and Their Families<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Asbestos Man\u2019s escapades definitely increased public awareness of the dangers of this toxic substance. In one of his final appearances, a down-on-his-luck Kasloff tried to rob a fast-food restaurant. The cashier gave him all the money in the register, not because she was afraid of him, but because she didn\u2019t want to be anywhere near his asbestos armor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asbestos Man and the Assumption of Risk<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Unlike millions of industrial workers and their families, who were never warned by the asbestos industry that breathing it was dangerous, Asbestos Man intentionally disregarded a known risk. One would think that a smarty-pants chemist like Kasloff would know how dangerous asbestos is. Basically, a single microscopic asbestos fiber could cause more health problems than a lifetime of cigarette smoking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asbestos Man (Like the Asbestos Industry) Put Profit Ahead of Public Health and Safety<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Asbestos Man was said to know nearly everything about minerals and chemicals of all kinds, including his namesake asbestos. But if so, Asbestos Man knew about the risks of wearing asbestos clothing and being surrounded by its dangerous fibers, and still chose to ignore them. Evidently, Asbestos Man decided that living a life a crime (enabled by his asbestos suit) was a quick and effective way to make a dollar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Builders used asbestos for the same reason. They knew how dangerous it was, but because it was so cheap, they kept using it. Legal action, not regulator action, finally forced builders to put people before profits and stop using asbestos. Because they, like Kasloff, intentionally disregarded a known risk, asbestos exposure victims are entitled to substantial compensation in court. More on that below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kasloff donned the asbestos suit around 1962. The Human Torch reported his death fifty-two years later, in 2014. Fifty years is about the average incubation period for mesothelioma, the kind of cancer that apparently killed Asbestos Man. Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) \u2013 another notorious smarty-pants \u2013 didn\u2019t perform an autopsy on Kasloff, so we don\u2019t know for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Asbestos Industry: A Real Supervillain<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But just like the facts eventually caught up with the asbestos industry, Asbestos Man couldn\u2019t outrun the dangers of asbestos in pursuit of his immediate bottom line. And despite the significant latency, eventually the asbestos fibers throughout his body caused significant damage, and took his life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Asbestos Man is just a character in a comic book, unfortunately the basics of his story are all too real. Millions of industrial workers and their families, as well as consumers and the public were exposed to asbestos without being warned of the health risks they were taking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why when the truth came out, courts ordered the asbestos companies to preserve the insurance money and assets from their companies, to pay for the medical bills and other damage that their asbestos products had inflicted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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