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Asbestos (/ æ s ˈ b ɛ s t ə s, æ z-,-t ɒ s / ass-BES-təs, az-, -toss) [1] is a group of naturally occurring, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals.There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre (particulate with length substantially greater than width) [2] being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into ...
Asbestos can also be found mixed with cements and resins and woven into fabrics. Asbestos-containing mineral samples may be present in natural history collections. The safe management of asbestos is highly regulated in most countries, [1] [2] e.g. the UK Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. [3]
Trace amounts can be found in talc, which often contains asbestos fibers of various types. [5] Studies into health risks associated with talc determined that with so many commercial varieties of talc being types of asbestine minerals, the resultant lung disease—talcosis, which can follow their prolonged inhalation, is usually a variety of asbestosis.
For example, the Greek word asbestos (meaning 'inextinguishable', or 'unquenchable'), for the unusual mineral known today containing fibrous structure. [5] The ancient historians Strabo (63 BC–19 AD) and Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) both wrote of asbestos, its qualities, and its origins, with the Hellenistic belief that it was of a type of ...
The most common asbestiform mineral is chrysotile, commonly called "white asbestos", a magnesium phyllosilicate part of the serpentine group. Other asbestiform minerals include riebeckite , an amphibole whose fibrous form is known as crocidolite or "blue asbestos", and brown asbestos , a cummingtonite-grunerite solid solution series.
Asbestos is a loose term for a group of six minerals that readily separate into needles or fibers. Easily inhaled, they are known to cause lung, ovarian and other types of cancer.
Three polytypes of chrysotile are known. [8] These are very difficult to distinguish in hand specimens, and polarized light microscopy [6] must normally be used. Some older publications refer to chrysotile as a group of minerals—the three polytypes listed below, and sometimes pecoraite as well—but the 2006 recommendations of the International Mineralogical Association prefer to treat it as ...
In Finland anthophyllite asbestos was mined in two mines, the larger one Paakkila in the Tuusniemi commune started in 1918 and closed in 1975 due to the dust problems. The smaller mine, Maljasalmi in the commune of Outokumpu, was mined from 1944 to 1952. The anthophyllite was used in asbestos cement and for insulation, roofing material etc.