ABSTRACT

CONTENTS 10.1 Background...................................................................................................................... 269 10.2 Health ............................................................................................................................... 270 10.3 Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 271

10.3.1 Analytical Instruments..................................................................................... 271 10.3.2 Sample Preservation ......................................................................................... 271 10.3.3 Sample Filtration and Grid Preparation........................................................ 271

References ................................................................................................................................... 273

Asbestos is a commercial/industrial term rather than a mineralogical term that refers to a group of hydrated silicate minerals that occur naturally in fibrous bundles [1]. This unique fibrous morphology imparts properties such as high tensile strength and heat resistance that have made these minerals commercially valuable, especially in the twentieth century [2]. Six minerals are generally recognized as asbestos. Chrysotile, the only serpentine asbestos, is actually formed when a silicate layer is scrolled inside an opposing brucite (MgOH) layer. This is the most widely exploited type of asbestos, accounting for more than 90% of historical worldwide production (Figure 10.1). The other five regulated asbestos types are amphiboles, with double-chain silicate layers sandwiching cations. Amosite, an iron-rich fibrous grunerite, was named from its mine source, Asbestos Mines of South Africa. Crocidolite, also predominantly from South Africa, a fibrous riebeckite and characterized by its iron and sodium content. Anthophyllite asbestos is anthophyllite’s (a Mg amphibole) fibrous form and was exploited most widely in Finland. Tremolite asbestos and actinolite asbestos are fibrous forms of tremolite and actinolite, which are end members of a solid-solution series of calcic amphiboles.