What is Asbestos?
The word ASBESTOS is Greek. The ‘a’ stands for ‘not’ and ‘sbestos’ stands for ‘extinguishable’. It is the fibrous form of several minerals and hydrous silicates of magnesium. It is mostly found underground. Asbestos is obtainable by various underground mining methods, but the most common method is open-pit mining. Only about 6 percent of the mined ore contains usable fibres. The fibres are separated from the ore by crushing, air suction, and vibrating screens, and in the process are sorted into different lengths, or grades. The most widely used method of grading, the Quebec Standard Test Method, divides the fibres into seven groups, the longest in group one and the shortest, called milled asbestos, in group seven. The length of the fibres, as well as the chemical composition of the ore, determines the kind of product that can be made from the asbestos. The longer fibres have been used in fabrics, commonly with cotton or rayon, and the shorter ones for molded goods, such as pipes and gaskets.
Asbestos fibres can be molded or woven into various fabrics. Because it is nonflammable and a poor heat conductor, asbestos has been widely used to make fireproof products such as safety clothing for fire fighters and insulation products such as hot-water piping. The first recorded use of the word asbestos is by Pliny the Elder in the 1st century AD, although the substance itself was known as early as the 2nd century BC. The Romans made cremation cloths and wicks from it, and centuries later Marco Polo noted its usefulness as cloth.
Widely used asbestos was often mixed with other materials in what we call today asbestos containing materials (ACM’s). Asbestos is of two principal classes, the amphiboles and the serpentines, the former of relatively minor importance. Chrysotile, in the serpentine class, constitutes about 95 percent of the world supply of asbestos, of which three-fourths is mined in Quebec. Other large deposits exist in South Africa. In the United States, California, Vermont, and Arizona are the leading asbestos-producing states; however, the majority of United States deposits are of no commercial value.
From the six main types of asbestos we in the UK have mainly used two amphibole types and one serpentine. These are more commonly known as Crocodolite (blue asbestos), Amosite (brown asbestos) and Chrysotile (white asbestos). The colour refers to its raw state and it is very hard for the naked eye to detect the colour when it is in an ACM. Because of its properties ACM’s were widely used in the construction industry. It does a great job but there’s one problem – The dust kills!
The dust is microscopic. When asbestos is disturbed these microscopic fibres are exposed into the atmosphere which we breathe in. Due to it’s resilience against chemical attack our bodies can not fight them. Our natural defences can not dissolve it and the fibres get stuck in our breathing organs causing cancers of the lung, asbestosis, mesotholemia and various other asbestos related diseases most of which are incurable.
That’s why It is now banned here in the UK and to keep the air safe to breath we need to locate where it is and manage it.
You can find asbestos in floor tiles, ceiling tiles, plaster, artex, bitumen, pipe lagging, cement sheets, toilet cisterns, boarding, rope, gaskets, fire blankets and thousands of other products. These products are commonly known as ACM's. The legislation CAWR has been designed to help us identify where we used it and it helps us to inform those who will be effected by its use.