Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals exploited commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their asbestiform habit, long, (1:20) thin fibrous crystals. Asbestos in some forms can be toxic. The inhalation of asbestos fibres can cause serious illnesses, including malignant lung cancer, mesothelioma (a type of malignant neoplasm dependent mostly from exposure to asbestos), and asbestosis (a...
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Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals exploited commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their asbestiform habit, long, (1:20) thin fibrous crystals. Asbestos in some forms can be toxic. The inhalation of asbestos fibres can cause serious illnesses, including malignant lung cancer, mesothelioma (a type of malignant neoplasm dependent mostly from exposure to asbestos), and asbestosis (a type of pneumoconiosis). Since 1 January 2005 the European Union has banned all types of utilization of asbestos Directive 1999/77/EC and extraction, manufacture and processing of asbestos products Directive 2003/18/EC
For environmental samples, one must normally resort to electron microscopy for positive identification. However today gravimetric and PCM/PLM techniques are employed, which cannot readily identify the smallest, most hazardous, fibers. These techniques being limited to PM10 particulate size evaluation which completely ignores...
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