Asbestos Types
Identifying Different Dangers!
By getting to know the key types of asbestos and where they have been used, will help to determine the dangers faced by exposure, their long term consequences and prospects for compensation.
Needless to say, obtaining the correct information and asbestos advice from a specialist asbestosis lawyer is undoubtedly your best route to take, as their particular expertise in this field means you will be expertly guided from initial enquiry to a successful asbestos claim result.
For any individual who feels thay may have a legitimate claim for inadvertent or accidental exposure, asbestos awareness in the form of accurately distinguishing between the three types, plays an important part in the process.
Most common asbestos type is the ‘serpentine’ group, which includes :
- Chrysotile – white – the most frequently mined and accounts for 90% of asbestos in use.
- Amosite – brown – second asbestos group, together with blue asbestos – known as the amphiboles.
- Crocidolite – blue
The fibres have high tensile strength, and chemical, electrical and heat resistance – properties that made asbestos extremely useful as a building/insulation material.
Asbestos materials in good condition are safe unless asbestos fibres become airborne, which happens when materials are damaged. Asbestos becomes a health hazard if the fibres are inhaled through the nose or mouth as they cannot be absorbed through your skin.
Some of the fine rod-like fibres may work their way into the lung tissue and remain embedded for life. This will become a constant source of irritation and can cause chronic illness.
Breathing in asbestos fibres can lead to the development of one of three fatal diseases :
- Asbestosis – a scarring of the lung leading to shortness of breath
- Mesothelioma – a cancer of the lining around the lungs and stomach
- Lung cancer
All are dangerous, but blue and brown asbestos are known to be more dangerous than white.
The carcinogenic risk from chrysotile (white asbestos) has been evaluated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and it is considered to be a category 1 human carcinogen.
Analysis suggests that on average, blue asbestos has a risk of about 500 times more than of white asbestos for mesothelioma, and 10-50 times as high for lung cancer. The equivalent risk ratio for brown asbestos is 100 for mesothelioma and the same as blue (10-50) for lung cancer.
The Health & Safety Executive recognise that the risks to human health associated with chrysotile are lower than those associated with amphibole asbestos (blue, brown asbestos, etc) but that does not imply that chrysotile does not cause cancer.
A ban, introduced for blue and brown asbestos in 1985 and for white asbestos in 1999, continues with the prohibition of the second-hand use of asbestos products such as asbestos cement sheets, boards and tiles, including those that have been painted over or texture coated.
However, asbestosis symptoms can take many years to make themselves apparent and it makes sense to make an early and careful evaluation of present and previous working practices and environments if there is good reason to suspect a very real cause for possible serious injury to health by possible exposure.