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The word Asbestos is derived from a Greek adjective meaning inextinguishable. The miracle mineral was reviled by the Greeks because it was so pliable and extremely resistant to heat. Asbestos was spun into cloths like cotton and was used for wicks in oil lamps. The romans also recognised the properties of asbestos and it is recorded (tongue in cheek) that the Romans would clear their tablecloths by throwing them in the fire.
From the time of the Greeks and Romans in the first century until the asbestos re emergence in the eighteenth century it received very little attention or use. In the eighteenth century large deposits were found in Canada which were mined and the emergence of asbestos as the miracle insulation product happened.
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral. It is distinguished from other materials by the fact that its crystals form into long fibres. The primary places of asbestos production are Canada, South Africa and the Soviet Union, it is also mined in the United States.
Asbestos minerals are divided into two types serpentine and amphibole. The distinction between the two types is that amphibole have a chain like structure and serpentine have a sheet like structure.
Chrysotile asbestos is the most commonly used type of asbestos and accounts for 95% of all asbestos, it is the only mineral in the serpentine classification. Chrysotile asbestos is commonly known as white asbestos because of its naturally occurring colour.
Amosite asbestos is found in the amphibole group and is the next most commonly used type of asbestos. This type of asbestos is commonly known as brown asbestos again due to its naturally occurring colour.
Crocidolite asbestos another amphibole was commonly used in very high temperature insulation, known as blue asbestos due again to its naturally occurring colour.
The remaining three types of asbestos are Anthophilite, Tremolite and Actinolite, all extremely rare and of little commercial value although they can be found as contaminates in other asbestos products.
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