What is asbestos?

Asbestos is a commercial term for a number of minerals that have a fibrous or an acicular (needle - like habit). These include chrysotile - a serpentine mineral (a hydrous phyllosilicate) and the following amphiboles; amosite - a variety of gruenerite, crocidolite - a variety of riebeckite, fibrous anthophyllite, and fibrous tremolite and actinolite. Chrysotile was the most important mineral used in 95% of the asbestos. Tremolite and actinolite were not ever comercially important and anthophyllite is not now comercially important. The first use of anthophyllite from Finland was as a strengthener for pottery from 2500 B.C. The Romans used asbestos for oil lamp wicks and as cremation cloths. The principal uses in the US were for cement pipe, flooring products, friction materials, and roofing products. The major health problem with the material is that if the acicular needles of asbestos get into the atmosphere, they can cause tumors to form in the pleura of the lungs. The Mineralogical ...  more

Asbestos refers to a group of magnesium silicates which have both a crystalline and a fibrous structure: actinolite, tremolite anthophyllite, crocidolite, amosite, and chrysotile.The word asbestos is of ancient Greek origin; the orignial word in Greek meant ‘unquenchable' or ‘inextinguishable’.  more

• Asbestos is the name for a group of fibrous minerals that are mined and mixed into building materials. • Asbestos is very resistant to heat and chemicals. • Asbestos has been used in a wide range of manufactured goods including floor and ceiling tiles, coatings, texturing materials and thermal insulation. • Currently, asbestos is used only in products where another material has not been found to replace it. • Generally, asbestos is not a health risk when bound together with a substance that prevents the fibers from entering the environment.

Asbestos is a carcinogenic mineral that was commonly used industrially because of its insulating properties (resistant to heat or fire and certain chemicals). An estimated 100 million workers were exposed to asbestos throughout the 20th century in the United States alone. Asbestos was regulated under section 112 of the Clean Air Act in 1970 because of widespread concern over the health hazards associated with exposure, something that had been known by manufacturers since before World War II.  more

Asbestos is a mineral. It is mined in much the same way that other minerals, such as iron, lead, and copper, are. Asbestos is composed of silicon, oxygen, hydrogen, and various metal cations (positively charged metal ions). There are many varieties of asbestos: the three most common are chrysotile, amosite, and crocidolite. Chrysotile fibers are pliable and cylindrical, and often arranged in bundles. Amosite and crocidolite fibers are like tiny needles. The first commercial asbestos mine -- a chrysotile mine -- opened in Quebec, Canada, in the 1870's. Crocidolite asbestos was first mined in South Africa during the 1980's. Amosite asbestos also comes from Africa and was first mined in 1916. Unlike most minerals, which turn into dust particles when crushed, asbestos breaks up into fine fibers that are too small to be seen by the human eye. Often individual fibers are mixed with a material that binds them together, producing asbestos containing material (ACM).  more

Asbestos is the name for a group of fibrous minerals that are mined and mixed into building materials. Asbestos is very resistant to heat and chemicals. Asbestos has been used in a wide range of manufactured goods including floor and ceiling tiles, coatings, texturing materials and thermal insulation. Currently, asbestos is used only in products where another material has not been found to replace it. Generally, asbestos is not a health risk when bound together with a substance that prevents the fibres from entering the environment.  more

Asbestos is the name given to a group of six different fibrous minerals (amosite, chrysotile, crocidolite, and the fibrous varieties of tremolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite) that occur naturally in the environment. One of these, namely chrysotile, belongs to the serpentine family of minerals, while all of the others belong to the amphibole family. All forms of asbestos are hazardous, and all can cause cancer, but amphibole forms of asbestos are considered to be somewhat more hazardous to health than chrysotile. Asbestos minerals consist of thin, separable fibers that have a parallel arrangement. Nonfibrous forms of tremolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite also are found naturally. However, because they are not fibrous, they are not classified as asbestos minerals. Amphibole asbestos fibers are generally brittle and often have a rod- or needle-like shape, whereas chrysotile asbestos fibers are flexible and curved. Chrysotile, also known as white asbestos, is the predominant ...  more

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Asbestos is a group of naturally occurring fibrous minerals. These minerals, found in soil and rocks in many parts of the world, are made of magnesium, silicon, and other elements. Some asbestos fibers are curly (or "serpentine"). The most common asbestos in industrial use, known as chrysotile, or white asbestos, has curly fibers. Other asbestos fibers are straight and needle-like (or "amphibole"). These include amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite. Asbestos fibers are resistant to heat and many chemicals. As a result, asbestos has been used as an insulating material since ancient times. Since the industrial revolution, asbestos was used to insulate factories, schools, homes, and ships, to make automobile brake and clutch parts, roofing shingles, ceiling and floor tiles, cement, and textiles, and hundreds of other products. During the first half of the 1900s, growing evidence demonstrated that asbestos is a health hazard causing scarring of the lungs. In the ...  more

For most individuals, especially those born in the last 40 years, the mention of asbestos conjures up thoughts of a dangerous substance that's sickened many people and caused myriad deaths around the world. That's an accurate description. A common misconception on the part of many individuals, however, is that asbestos is a hazardous man-made substance, conjured up in factories around the world for commercial use. The truth is, however, that asbestos is a naturally-occurring mineral that can be found in hundreds of countries on just about every continent. As a matter of fact, asbestos is still mined in several of these countries, including Canada and Russia. Other countries have outlawed the mining of asbestos. Asbestos is a highly-fibrous mineral with long, thin, separable fibers. The thin fibers can be spun and woven together, and possess valuable heat-resistant properties that make asbestos suitable for insulation and other such products. Indeed, for decades, asbestos was the ...  more