Hollywood and Mesothelioma: The History of Asbestos Use
Commercial use of asbestos began in 1879, and in 1935, the first cases of asbestosis and asbestos-caused lung cancer
were diagnosed in the United States. In the early 1970s, the government
placed a moratorium on the production of most asbestos products, but
the use of asbestos in manufacturing continued well into the 1980s, and
in some cases, asbestos has been found in products today.
Attributed
mostly as a disease that affects workers exposed to asbestos because of
specific occupations, including most notably veterans and construction
workers, mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases don’t
discriminate against anyone who may have been exposed to the deadly
fiber in more unknown use cases. For example, film industry
professionals are also at risk and have fallen victim to diseases like
mesothelioma due to a hidden history of asbestos exposure in Hollywood.
Fake Snow
Until
the late 1920s, filmmakers would use cotton batting to create snow
effects. In 1928, before asbestos was widely known as a dangerous
substance, a firefighter pointed out that cotton was a fire hazard on
sets and suggested the use of asbestos as a “safe” alternative.
Unfortunately, the idea caught on in Hollywood, and from the 1930s to
the 1950s, asbestos snow was manufactured and marketed to the industry
with names like “Pure White” and “Snow Drift.”
Perhaps the most
famous film application of this is the Wizard of Oz (1939), where
asbestos snow was blown on the cast in the poppy field scene. In 1942,
asbestos snow fell all around the cast and crew of Holiday Inn.
On the Set
While
a chemical snow called foamite was invented for It’s a Wonderful Life
(1946), asbestos was used to dress other parts of the set, according to
Life Magazine writer Helen Robinson.
In the 1964 Bond film Goldfinger (and likely other Bond films), asbestos was used in special effect boards and piping that lined the sets, which carpenters would cut up.
The
CBS Network facilities also contained asbestos, and actor Ed Lauter,
who worked on-site at CBS for more than 20 years, died from mesothelioma
in 2013.
Fireproof
Because of its fireproof quality,
asbestos was used for a variety of stunt-related manufacturing and for
safety at theaters. As a safety precaution in large proscenium theaters,
fire curtains made with asbestos
were used from the 1960s through the 1980s. Stunt men like Steve
McQueen, who was a victim of mesothelioma himself, were exposed to
asbestos when wearing flame-retardant suits in the 1960s.
What About Now?
Many
filmmakers leverage old, existing buildings and other structures for
locations that likely contain asbestos insulation, which could pose a
threat to the cast and crew if disturbed in any way.
During World
War II, the demand for asbestos use for the military increased, and its
overt use in the film industry subsequently decreased. As the deadly
nature of asbestos was further studied and confirmed, it was used less
and less. However, the substance has yet to be banned in the United
States.