What is Asbestos?

What is Asbestos?
Asbestos is the name given to a group of highly fibrous minerals with a separate, long and thin fibers, durable yarn. These fibers are resistant to heat, fire, and chemicals and does not conduct electricity. For these reasons, asbestos has been used widely in many industries. For decades, asbestos was the material of choice for many industrial products manufacturing heat resistant, low electrical conductivity, flexibility, and high tensile strength are important factors.

Chemicals, asbestos compound silicate minerals, which means they contain silicon and oxygen atoms in molecular structure. Because of durability, asbestos fibers into the lung tissue will remain for a long time.

Asbestos minerals are divided into two main groups: Serpentine asbestos and amphibole asbestos. Serpentine asbestos minerals including chrysotile, which has long, curly fibers that can be woven. Chrysotile asbestos is the form most widely used in commercial applications. Amphibole asbestos minerals, including actinolite, tremolite, anthophyllite, crocidolite, and Amosite. Amphibole asbestos has straight, needle-like fibers are more brittle than serpentine asbestos and more limited in their ability to be a fake.

For most people, especially those born in the last 40 years, the reference to asbestos led to thoughts about the harmful substances that many people sick and caused many deaths worldwide. That description is accurate.

From this misunderstanding, that asbestos is a dangerous man-made substance, conjured up in factories around the world for commercial use. The fact is, however, that asbestos is a natural mineral that can be found in hundreds of countries on almost every continent. As a matter of fact, asbestos is still mined in several countries, including Canada and Russia. Other countries prohibit the mining of asbestos.