What is asbestos?
Asbestos is the name of a group of minerals that occur naturally as masses of strong, flexible fibers that can be separated into thin threads and woven.

Asbestos has been widely used in many industrial products, including cement, brake linings, roof shingles, flooring products, textiles, and insulation. If tiny asbestos particles float in the air, especially during the manufacturing process, they may be inhaled or swallowed, and can cause serious health problems. In addition to mesothelioma, exposure to asbestos increases the risk of lung cancer, asbestosis (a noncancerous, chronic lung ailment), and other cancers, such as those of the larynx and kidney.

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.

Asbestos mainly affects the lungs: Changes in the membrane surrounding the lung are common in workers exposed to asbestos. These lung changes are also sometimes found in people living in areas with high levels of asbestos in the air. Breathing very high levels of asbestos may result in a slow buildup of scar-like tissue in the lungs and in the membrane that surrounds the lungs. People with asbestosis have shortness of breath, often along with a cough and sometimes heart enlargement. This is chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), a serious disease that can lead to disability or death.

Asbestos is a known carcinogen: There are two types of cancer caused by exposure to high levels of asbestos: cancer of the lung tissue itself and mesothelioma, a cancer of the membrane that surrounds the lung and other internal organs. Both of these are usually fatal. These diseases do not develop immediately, but show up only after many years.

Asbestos information source: www.learnthat.com and www.answers.com

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