Health Tips

Asbestos is a group of minerals with long, thin fibrous crystals. The word "asbestos" is derived from a Greek adjective meaning inextinguishable. The Greeks termed asbestos the "miracle mineral" because of its soft and pliant properties, as well as its ability to withstand heat. Asbestos became increasingly popular among manufacturers and builders in the late 19th century due to its resistance to heat, electricity and chemical damage, its sound absorption and tensile strength. When asbestos is used for its resistance to fire or heat, the fibers are often mixed with cement or woven into fabric or mats. Asbestos is used in brake shoes and gaskets for its heat resistance, and in the past was used on electric oven and hotplate wiring for its electrical insulation at elevated temperature, and in buildings for its flame-retardant and insulating properties, tensile strength, flexibility, and resistance to chemicals.

This "miracle material" is now known to be highly toxic. The inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause serious illnesses, including mesothelioma and asbestosis. Since the mid 1980s, many uses of asbestos have been banned in many countries.

Types and associated fibres

Six minerals are defined as "asbestos" including: chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, anthophyllite and actinolite.

White

Chrysotile, CAS No. 12001-29-5, is obtained from serpentine rocks which are common throughout the world. Chrysotile fibers are curly as opposed to fibers from amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite which are needlelike.^[1] Chrysotile, along with other types of asbestos, has been banned in dozens of countries and is only allowed in the United States and Europe in very limited circumstances. Chrysotile has been used more than any other type and accounts for about 95% of the asbestos found in buildings in America.^[2] Applications where chrysotile might be used include the use of joint compound. It is more flexible than amphibole types of asbestos; it can be spun and woven into fabric. The most common use is within corrugated asbestos cement roof sheets typically used for outbuildings, warehouses and garages. It is also found as flat sheets used for ceilings and sometimes for walls. Numerous other items have been made containing chrysotile including brake linings, cloth behind fuses (for fire protection), pipe insulation, in floor tiles and in rope seals to boilers.^{[citation needed]}

Mg3[Si2O5](OH)4

Brown

Amosite, CAS No. 12172-73-5, is a trade name for the amphiboles belonging to the Cummingtonite - Grunerite solid solution series, commonly from Africa, named as an acronym from Asbestos Mines of South Africa. One formula given for amosite is Fe₇Si₈O₂₂(OH)₂. It is found most frequently as a fire retardant in thermal insulation products and ceiling tiles.^[2]

Blue

Crocidolite, CAS No. 12001-28-4 is an amphibole found primarily in southern Africa, but also in Australia. It is the fibrous form of the amphibole riebeckite. One formula given for crocidolite is Na₂Fe²⁺₃Fe³⁺₂Si₈O₂₂(OH)₂. Notes: chrysotile commonly occurs as soft friable fibers. Asbestiform amphibole may also occur as soft friable fibers but some varieties such as amosite are commonly straighter. All forms of asbestos are fibrillar in that they are composed of fibers with widths less than 1 micrometer that occur in bundles and have very long lengths. Asbestos with particularly fine fibers is also referred to as "amianthus". Amphiboles such as tremolite have a crystal structure containing strongly bonded ribbonlike silicate anion polymers that extend the length of the crystal. Serpentine (chrysotile) has a sheetlike silicate anion which is curved and which rolls up like a carpet to form the fiber.^[3]

Other materials

Other regulated asbestos minerals, such as tremolite asbestos, CAS No. 77536-68-6, Ca₂Mg₅Si₈O₂₂(OH)₂; actinolite asbestos (or smaragdite), CAS No. 77536-66-4, Ca₂(Mg, Fe)₅(Si₈O₂₂)(OH)₂; and anthophyllite asbestos, CAS No. 77536-67-5, (Mg, Fe)₇Si₈O₂₂(OH)₂; are less commonly used industrially but can still be found in a variety of construction materials and insulation materials and have been reported in the past to occur in a few consumer products.

Other natural and not currently regulated asbestiform minerals, such as richterite, Na(CaNa)(Mg, Fe⁺⁺)₅(Si₈O₂₂)(OH)₂, and winchite, (CaNa)Mg₄(Al, Fe³⁺)(Si₈O₂₂)(OH)₂, may be found as a contaminant in products such as the vermiculite containing zonolite insulation manufactured by W.R. Grace and Company. These minerals are thought to be no less harmful than tremolite, amosite, or crocidolite, but since they are not regulated, they are referred to as "asbestiform" rather than asbestos although may still be related to diseases and hazardous.

Production trends

In 2005, 2.2 million tons of asbestos were mined worldwide. Russia was the largest producer with about 40% world share followed by China and Kazakhstan

Health issues

Chrysotile asbestos, like all other forms of industrial asbestos, has produced tumors in animals. Mesotheliomas have been observed in people who were occupationally exposed to chrysotile, family members of the occupationally exposed, and residents who lived close to asbestos factories and mines. Brown asbestos, like all asbestos, is hazardous. Blue asbestos is commonly thought of as the most dangerous type of asbestos. Tremolite often contaminates chrysotile asbestos, thus creating an additional hazard.

Asbestos exposure becomes a health concern when high concentrations of asbestos fibers are inhaled over a long time period. People who become ill from asbestos are almost always those who are exposed on a day-to-day basis in a job where they work directly with the material. As a person's exposure to fibers increases, either by breathing more fibers or by breathing fibers for a longer time, that person's risk of disease also increases. Disease is very unlikely to result from a single, high-level exposure, or from a short period of exposure to lower levels.

Other asbestos-related diseases

• Asbestos warts – caused when the sharp fibers lodge in the skin and are overgrown causing benign callus-like growths.

• Pleural plaques – discrete fibrous or partially calcified thickened area which can be seen on X-rays of individuals exposed to asbestos. They do not become malignant or cause other lung impairment.

• Diffuse pleural thickening – similar to above and can sometimes be associated with asbestosis. Usually no symptoms shown but if extensive can cause lung impairment.