what is Kapok is it asbestos how was it used?

Question

COPD, lung disease,

Answer 1

Kapok, in those old clunky life jackets, is a plant fiber. It is grown like cotton or flax.

Because it was bulky and light (until wet), it was used to fill up plastic changer in "life jackets" (personal floatation devices). Even if the plastic was punctured, the jacket would maintain much of its bouncacy. Most PFD nowadays are flexible closed-cell plastic foams.

Asbestos is a mineral, a rock. It is mined out of the ground. The fibers can be amazingly small, literally microscopic. That's part of why it is such a hazard - the very small fibers travel far into the lungs. And since it is a very stable material (a rock), it doesn't degrade in the body - it stays there and irritates and disrupts the biochemistry of the body and its cells for decades.

Answer 2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapok