Tuesday, December 27, 2016

For Quality Asbestos Chicago Is The Way To Go

By Jessica Hughes


Asbestos is a collection of six silicate minerals that occur naturally. The six minerals have eponymous asbestiform characteristic in common. Each fibrous crystal has microscopic fibrils that total several millions. Abrasion and similar processes make the crystals to release the fibrils into the atmosphere. When in search of asbestos Chicago should be one of the places one considers to visit first.

Color is usually based upon when classifying this material. The five main colors are red, blue, brown, white, and green. The science of mining this material dates as far back as four millenniums. During that time, people only engaged in the activity on small-scales. Large-scale mining only began at the advent of the 19th century. This was triggered by the discovery of the desirable characteristics of the material.

Some of the desirable features that led to the increased consumption of the materials are average tensile strength, affordability, sound absorption, and resistance to electricity, heat, and fire. The insulation properties of the material led to its use as insulation in buildings and in electrical insulation. Use of this material as fire resistant material requires that it be mixed into cement or it be woven to make mats or fabric.

The qualities named above made the material very popular in the construction industry and in making household as well as industrial appliances. In homes, it was used to make walls and ceiling boards. Popularity continued to rise throughout the twentieth century until when it was discovered that the material caused several medical conditions when inhaled over prolonged periods of time. This made many governments to outlaw the use of the material in construction and many other applications.

Two major types of asbestos exist today. The two categories are serpentine and amphibole and each has various types. Chrysotile is the only individual classified under serpentile. In exists in various places around the world in serpentinite rocks. When observed under microscope, this rock indicates to have white fibers.

In the United States, chrysotile leads in terms of use in all applications. Over 95 percent of all instances where the material is used is chrysotile. Chrysotile can be woven to produce fabric because it is more flexible than amphobile. It dominated in making of roofs, cement, ceilings, floors, walls, and especially in outdoor environments. Additional items that are produced from chrysotile are fire barriers, pipe insulations, high-temperature equipment, brake linings, floor tiles, gaskets, and residential shingles.

Actinolite, tremolite, crocidolite, amosite, and anthophyllite are the varieties classified under the amphobile class. Amosite occurs in large quantities in South Africa where it is also produced on large-scale. It has a brown color. Crocidolite has a fibrous nature and commonly occurs in Australia, Southern Africa, and Bolivia. Crocidolite has a blue color.

Generally, asbestos is known to be a human carcinogen. There is a wide range of serious health hazards that are caused by the material. Crocidolite and amosite are the most hazardous fiber types of these material available. Chrysotile has also been observed to cause malignant mesothelioma and asbestosis in humans.




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