Friable and Non-Friable Asbestos
Asbestos products are made in two forms — friable asbestos (1) and non-friable asbestos (2).
- Over 97% of asbestos products worldwide have been non-friable materials which contain fibers bonded by cement/vinyl/resin, etc. If accidentally damaged, this product may release a few harmful fibers.
- That one is considered to be hazardous material, as it may be crumbled/pulverized/reduced to powder by hand pressure and include non-friable material initially to become broken by mechanical force.
As a rule, asbestos containing material is in a friable state if it is disturbed or becomes air borne. Being rather versatile it can be easily molded/shaped/cut drilled/painted and determined through laboratory testing.
From Asbestos to Chrysotile
Current asbestos products differ much from the old ones. Only one type of asbestos, chrysotile, is offered today. Besides, the industry markets either non-friable or dense materials, having the chrysotile fibre encapsulated in a cement/resin matrix. These modern products include:
- friction materials
- chrysotile-cement building materials
- certain plastics
- gaskets
The old products, insulation materials of low density, were too dusty, crumbled under hand pressure and often contained amphibole/crocidolite/amosite fibres.
Controlled Use of Chrysotile = Safety
Chrysotile is more easily eliminated from the human body and is a less dusty material than amphiboles. Studies of workers have demonstrated that both use and manufacture of modern products are safe in today’s controlled factories. The more scientific evidence has shown that fibrosis (asbestosis, asbestos-induced lung cancer) is a threshold phenomenon. Moreover, the researchers have confirmed that a few cases of mesothelioma have been associated rather with amphibole fibres than chrysotile. It is now known that modern chrysotile manufacturing plants pose little risks, if any.
Chrysotile-cement: a Safe High-quality Product
90% of the world chrysotile production is used to manufacture chrysotile-cement in the forms of shingles/sheets/pipes in about sixty developing and industrialized countries, because of excellent durability and cost effectiveness. Manufacturing requires:
- little fiber import
- easily available local raw materials, such as portland cement and water
- little investment
- less energy for production methods in comparison with competing materials
Neither Public Environment nor Health Risks
A group of the World Health Organization experts presented chrysotile-cement products as those to pose no significant risks. With effective prevention and control measures applied, even workers in this industry are not exposed to any detectable hazard.
Well, as you can see, the real problem is only with old and poorly controlled asbestos products. If the risks associated with the use of amphibole asbestos fibres and friable asbestos products cannot be controlled, their use should be prohibited. But chrysotile and its non-friable products have proved to be safe and well controlled throughout the product life-cycle. This is the taken position of many governments, concerning either chrysotile asbestos or minerals and metals.