I have heard, but I do not know if it is accurate or true, but If they had used asbestos in the Twin Towers as a fire retardent, the buildings MAY not have collapsed. Of course they were not able to use asbestos because of environmental concerns...
Not true. It was the blasting off of the fireproofing material on the structural elements that led to the collapse, and asbestos would have been blown off just as readily, if not more so. Here's one take on the matter from a professional:
http://cryptome.org/wtc-junksci.htm
The column, "Asbestos Could Have Saved WTC Lives," by Steven Milloy, was forwarded to me. I appreciate being able to read it. I would like to correct an assumption Mr. Milloy made that asbestos insulation would have prevented the collapse. (I'm a licensed architect practising in NYC.)
The structural insulation used in WTC was just as good fireproofing as the wet asbestos system so that was not the cause of the collapse. What caused it was the blasting away of fireproofing from structural steel of the core and floor structure by impact of the aircraft and explosion of its fuel as well as extremely high heat of the flaming fuel well above the capability of the fireproofing and as the effect of the high heat on the steelwork.
Asbestos would have been not better in resisting this level of heat. Indeed, sprayed-on asbestos might well have been blasted away more readily than other material due to its lightweight, loose-fiber constituency.
All methods of fireproofing systems are rated by the number of hours of fire-resistance they provide, 1-hr, 2-hr, 3-hr and so on. This is true no matter what material is used, asbestos or any other of a variety of fireproofing materials. The rating is set by laboratory testing of samples of materials by accredited testing laboratories, and the results are published in fire-resistance handbooks used by design professionals, building officials and insurance underwriters to comply with building codes.
Asbestos was a wonderful material but turned out to have the fatal flaw of being carcinogenic. Other materials have been found that match asbestos for its excellent qualities but do not have its fatal flaw. "