Asbestos, Health Risk and its Substitute.

Asbestos is a general name that applies to several types of fibrous silicate minerals. The name asbestos comes from a Greek word meaning "inextinguishable" (often mistaken to mean "incombustible"). The earliest known use of asbestos was in about 2500 B.C. in what is now Finland, where asbestos fibers were mixed with clay to form stronger ceramic utensils and pots. The first written reference to asbestos came from Greece in about 300 B.C. Historically, asbestos is best known for its resistance to flame and its ability to be woven into cloth. Although the fireproof qualities of asbestos continued to fascinate the scientific community for hundreds of years, it wasn't until the 1800s that asbestos found many commercial uses. Because of these properties, it was used to make fireproof stage curtains for theaters, as well as heat-resistant clothing for metal workers and firefighters. More modern applications of asbestos take advantage of its chemical resistance and the reinforcing properties of its fibers to produce asbestosreinforced cement products including pipes, sheets, and shingles used in building construction. Asbestos is also used as insulation for rocket engines on the space shuttle and as a component in the electrolytic cells that make oxygen on submerged nuclear submarines. Types of asbestos: There are six types of asbestos: chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, anthophyllite, tremolite and actinolite. They can be group into two distinctive groups according to their physical and chemical properties as well as mineralogical difference: the serpentine group and the amphibole group. Chrysotile is the sole mineral of Serpentine group. Amphibole group is made up of crocidolite, amosite, anthophyllite, tremolite and actinolite, and is widely found throughout the earth's crust. Health Risk: Asbestos and all commercial forms of asbestos are known to be humancarcinogens based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans. It is now generally accepted that inhalation of asbestos fibers can be associated with three serious, and often fatal, diseases. Two of these, lung cancer and asbestosis, affect the lungs, while the third, mesothelioma, is a rare form of cancer that affects the lining of the thoracic and abdominal cavities. It is also found that different types of asbestos, particularly the amphiboles, pose a greater health hazard than chrysotile asbestos. The factors, such as the length of the fibers and the duration and degree of exposure, can determine the health hazard posed by asbestos. In fact some studies have shown that some asbestos-induced lung cancers only occur when the exposure is above a certain level of concentration. Below that threshold, there is no statistical increase in lung cancer over that found in the general population.
Asbestos was once called the "miracle fibre" and was used in over 3000 products. Since the concern over the health impact of asbestos became an issue, asbestos has ceased to be used in thousands of products.

Main substitutes: Asbestos category I. Raw asbestos in bulk Types of use wadding, sprayed insulation, heatand soundproofing Substitute methods/materials mineral wools (glass, rock, slag) and ceramic fibres (never in sprayed insulation) coatings, plaster lagging with vermiculite, mica, etc. as additive panels, lagging using various silicates cellulose various non-fibrous mineral products:

II. Asbestos in

coatings, faade coatings, fire

powders, mineral products (except asbestos cement) III. Asbestos in liquids or pastes IV. Asbestos sheet or board V. Woven or braided asbestos

resistant plaster coatings, mortars, adhesives, fire resistant mortars, refractory mortars, grinding powders adhesives, coatings, putties, foams, sealant pastes, paints partitions, false ceilings, sheet, felts, filters, papers card, lagging, panels, board tape, cushions, rope, blankets, mattresses, stuffing boxes, curtains, ribbon, textiles, packings, fireresistant clothing clutch assemblies, brake linings, electrical insulators, gaskets plastics wall coverings, floor coverings as tiles or rolls containers, weather-boarding, pipes, partitions, roofing and sheathing materials, boards, roof boards, windowsills, ducts, claddings weatherboarding with a bitumen finish, bitumen, bitumen adhesives, anti-corrosion coatings, sealant coatings, roof sealants, putties, road surfacings

carbonates, silicates, perlite, vermiculite, mica, etc.

VI. Asbestos in a resin or plastic matrix

limestone or clay additives cellulose mica MMMF (panels, underlays) clay and silicate foams, vermiculite aggregates above-mentioned materials plus PE, PP, PA, PTFE plastics (for low temperatures) carbon, aramide and steel fibres glass fibres rock fibres RCF MMMF, aramides, carbon fibres, PTFE, steel, copper, non-fibrous materials idem II or III alternative technologies cellulose, PP, polyvinyl alcool fibres aramides glass fibres (rare) sometimes cotton, sisal, jute in some countries limestone additives glass and rock fibres and wools except in road surfacings

VII. Asbestos cement

VIII. Asbestos in "black products" (asphalt and bitumen)