See also Asbestos - The Law
Asbestos is a group of naturally occurring fibrous minerals. There are three types that have proven to be commercially useful.
Chrysotile - white asbestos
Amosite - brown asbestos
Crocidolite - blue asbestos
Asbestos has been attractive to the construction industry because of its physical strength, thermal and electrical insulation properties, non combustibility and resistance to chemical erosion.
Blue and brown asbestos are the two most dangerous forms
and have been banned in the UK since 1985. White asbestos has been banned
from general use since 1999, although it is still used for a small number
of specialised applications.
It is impossible to determine if a material contains asbestos just by looking at it (the colours disappear when processed). There are over 3500 uses for asbestos in construction and building, and 85% of commercial buildings contain asbestos in their structure. It occurs in many guises, some of the more common ones are:
It can also be found in brake linings, floor coverings, fire blankets, toilet cisterns, storage heaters and a wide range of other products.
Asbestos is classed as a hazardous substance, but only causes risk to human health when the fibres are released and breathed in. In other words asbestos in good condition is not a risk unless it is disturbed in some way that would release fibres e.g. drilling or cutting. The fibres may be released in a cloud that is not visible to the human eye and the immediate danger is not obvious.
Asbestos kills over 3000 people each year in the UK and this figure is expected to rise to over 10,000 in the next ten years. Breathing in the fibres cause disease such as asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma.
Symptoms can occur from 15 to 60 years after exposure and there is no treatment for asbestos related disease. It is known that high level exposure will cause disease, however the consequences of low level exposure are not fully understood.