Considering the incredible properties of asbestos, it is easy to see why the material was known for a long time as the “magic mineral”. It has been used for many hundreds of years but extensive use began around the turn of the 20th century and continues even today in many societies despite the known and established health risks. There vast deposits of asbestos around the world and it is mined in much the same way as any other mineral.
Below is a list of asbestos properties. They are not true of all asbestos types but given as a general guide to why asbestos has so many industrial uses
The appearance of asbestos fibre might best be described using words such as “spiky” or “needle-like”, except for Chrysotile where the fibres are curly.
As for colour, asbestos varies according to the type and specific metals contained within. For example, crocidolite is deemed to be the most colourful with hues ranging from lilac to green. It is the iron within the mineral that induces a green colour and the more iron there is, the more robust the colour of green. Informally crocidolite is known as “blue asbestos”, amosite as “brown asbestos” and the rest - chyrsotile, tremolite, actinolite and anthophyllite - are usually white in colour.
Serpentine asbestos has a chemical formula of Mg3Si2O5(OH)4 and amphibole asbestos has a basic structure as follows: (Si4O11)-6.
IMPORTANT: We are NOT a government organisation and the comments below merely represent the opinions of our staff (and other contributors) and any advice given is taken at your own risk.
Please note that due to high demand combined with staff shortages we cannot currently accept comments. Please accept our apologies.
ALL COMMENTS ARE MANUALLY REVIEWED BEFORE APPROVAL. IF YOU CHOOSE TO FOLLOW THE ADVICE GIVEN IN RESPONSE TO YOUR COMMENT THEN YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK AND THAT YOU WILL NOT HOLD ASBESTOSADVISOR.NET OR ITS CONTRIBUTORS RESPONSIBLE. PLEASE DO NOT SPAM.