Asbestos

Asbestos: A natural material made up of tiny fibers which can lodge in the lungs and lead to cancer or scarring of the lungs. The cancer may be lung cancer or (mesothelioma), which is a cancer of the lining of the lungs or other internal organs. The scarring of the lungs is termed asbestosis. Exposure to asbestos usually occurs by breathing contaminated air in workplaces that make or use asbestos or in the air of buildings containing asbestos that are being torn down or renovated.

Asbestos is one of the health hazards of mining. To take a case in point, the small town of Libby, Montana was home through most of the 20th century to one of the world's largest vermiculite mines. Vermiculite, a mineral, is used in everything from insulation to animal feed to potting soil. But Libby's rich vermiculite deposit was laced with asbestos. Hundreds of miners and their families fell sick or died as a result of their exposure to the asbestos.

The following additional information is based on materials from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC).

Asbestos is a group of six different fibrous minerals: The six minerals are amosite, chrysotile, crocidolite, and the fibrous varieties of tremolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite. They occur naturally in soil and rocks in some areas. Asbestos fibers vary in length and may be straight or curled. The fibers are resistant to heat and most chemicals.

Asbestos is used for a wide range of manufactured goods, mostly roofing shingles, ceiling and floor tiles, paper products, asbestos cement products, friction products (automobile clutch,
brake, and transmission parts), textiles, packaging, gaskets, and coatings.medterms