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What is asbestos?
By
Smart Roofing
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Asbestos is a substance that can have potentially fatal health effects. While asbestos is now banned from use it was a component of thousands of different products used in the community and industry from the 1940s until the late 1980s.
Disturbed or broken asbestos products or materials can release minute asbestos fibres that once airborne are capable of being inhaled deep into a person's lungs.
These respirable fibres are a major health hazard and the adverse health effects, such as lung cancer, can take decades to become apparent. The lack of immediate health effects has often meant that victims are unaware of the dangers they are exposed to which means that exposure to the hazard can continue over a long period causing serious health effects.
It has been used in more than 3,000 different construction materials and manufactured products. It is commonly found in heating system insulation, decorative spray-on ceiling treatments, vinyl flooring, cement shake siding and a variety of additional materials. Some asbestos-containing materials were still being installed into the late 1980s.
All types of asbestos tend to break into very tiny fibres. These individual fibres are so small that many must be identified using a microscope. In fact, some individual fibres may be up to 700 times smaller than a human hair. Because asbestos fibres are so small, once released into the air, they may stay suspended there for hours or even days.
Asbestos fibres are also virtually indestructible. They are resistant to chemicals and heat, and they are very stable in the environment. They do not evaporate into air or dissolve in water, and they are not broken down over time. Asbestos is probably the best insulator known to man.
Usually asbestos is mixed with other materials to actually form the products. Floor tiles, for example, may contain only a small percentage of asbestos. The asbestos content of different materials varies according to the product and how it is used. Among those materials with higher concentrations of asbestos are insulation products on heating systems and the backing on sheet vinyl flooring. However, an uncontrolled disturbance of any asbestos-containing material in any concentration may be dangerous to your health!
Due to the serious health risks associated with asbestos it is essential that exposure to it is effectively managed.
Types of asbestos
Asbestos is commonly referred to by three types:
- chrysotile ("white" asbestos - belonging to the serpentine group)
- crocidolite ("blue" asbestos - belonging to the amphibole group)
- amosite ("brown" or "grey" asbestos - belonging to the amphibole group)
Under the law, asbestos-containing materials (ACM's) are divided into two types:
Bonded asbestos & Friable asbestos.
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