Asbestos Information

What is asbestos

Asbestos is a mineral fiber that is commonly used in a variety of building construction materials. It was used mainly for insulation and as a fire-retardant. Asbestos is actually a class of materials made of magnesium silicate minerals.

There are 3 most common forms of asbestos :

  1. Chrysotile asbestos
    Chyrsotile asbestos makes up 90% of all the asbestos in buildings in the USA. It is also called white asbestos and has a serpentine (sheet/layer like structure) crystal structure when you look under a microscope.
  2. Amosite asbestos
    Amosite is the second most common type of asbestos found in building materials. It's also called brown asbestos and has a chain like crystal structure when you look under a microscope.
  3. Crocidolite asbestos
    This is blue asbestos and is usually only found in products which need to withstand high temperatures.

To date, asbestos is still being mined in Australia, Canada and South Africa.

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Asbestos information