Composition of Asbestos

Asbestos is a naturally occurring compound. Since asbestos is found in nature, the average person inhales 10,000 to 15,000 natural asbestos fibers per day, according to EnvironmentalChemistry.com. The asbestos is released from the Earth by erosion and then carried by wind. Asbestos has a unique chemical structure that makes it appealing to many different industries despite the associated health risks of extracting and using asbestos in product manufacturing.

Chemical Composition

• Asbestos is a silicate material that exists in metamorphic, altered basic and ultra basic igneous rocks. The Environmental Protection Agency's legal definition of asbestos is the combination of six fibrous materials from the serpentine and amphibole groups of minerals: chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, actinolite and anthophyllite.

Physical Properties

• The physical characteristics of asbestos make it useful for a variety of industrial applications. Asbestos has a higher tensile strength than steel and has a high thermal stability and thermal resistance. Asbestos is also non-flammable, which is part of the reason it can be found in so many building materials. Asbestos also has no odor or taste, but the color can vary depending on the type of asbestos and metallic composition.

Uses

• Asbestos has been used to make more than 5,000 products for home and industrial uses. The most common applications in the home are vinyl floor tiles, pipe insulation, asphalt floor tile, acoustic and decorative plaster, paints, shingles, felts and vinyl wall coverings.