ABSTRACT
Asbestos and silica are naturally occurring minerals that are mined in various
forms for numerous commercial purposes (1,2). Asbestos ore breaks down into
fiber forms with a crystalline backbone, while silica can be in crystalline or
amorphous (noncrystal) particle form. Asbestos is divided mineralogically into
the serpentine form known as chrysotile and the amphibole forms that include
crocidolite and amosite. Chrysotile constitutes about 95% of the world’s use, and
the amphibole fibers, approximately the other 5% (1). All the asbestos varieties
have been established as causative agents of all the asbestos-induced diseases
(i.e., scarring, lung cancer, and mesothelioma), while it is only the crystalline
form of silica that causes disease (1,2).
