Romans mined asbestos from all over the Empire. Because of all its good qualities, its fibres were incorporated into all manner of cloth items, as well as vuilding materials for insulation.
Her's the thing. We are aware that lead products in Rome caused problems with health, but what about asbestos? Is there any records that look like cancer or asbestosis? I've not heard anything like that, and I'd just like to know. Thanks!
You might want to read this earlier post by u/fouriels and this answer on his post by u/copernic10
/u/copernic10 touches on that a bit in their comment here. Based on their linked source [Browne K, Murray R. Asbestos and the Romans. Lancet1990;336:445.], it seems that the Roman world wasn't actually that familiar with the hazards of asbestos.
Thanks to all the people that answered and the posts they directed me to!
This seemed important, by /u/fouriels :
I struggle to believe that we collectively somehow forgot that lead/asbestos are toxic - my best guess is that a combination of lobbying and under-education of the population, which resulted in other horrors during the industrial period, would account for this.