Asbestos information is available under a number of different categories:
-> Asbestos Regulations, requirements and management planning
-> The history of asbestos
-> The properties and types of asbestos
-> Health effects of asbestos
Asbestos Regulations have been in place in the UK for most of the 20th century but became more onerous in 2002 when the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations were introduced. Amended in 2006, these regulations are risk assessment based, and place a responsibility on the owner, tenant or lessee of a building to gather asbestos information concerning a building and use this information to control the risk of exposure to people who may come into contact with asbestos contained within the property. This process of control is called management planning, and is the central requirement of current legislation.
The history of asbestos begins in Roman times when good quality asbestos information was scarce, but it was known that the material had very attractive qualities of fire resistance and thermal insulation. Becoming more and more popular during the development of the world’s industrial base, asbestos production peaked in the mid 20th century and has been declining rapidly since then. Some specialist uses continue but asbestos use is banned in almost every country throughout the world, the principal exception being China.
The properties and types of asbestos – the most common forms are crocidolite (blue), amosite (brown) and chrysotile (white), and these account for all but a tiny fraction of asbestos usage. The first two forms are known as “amphibole”, and have straight needle like fibres which penetrate lung tissue easily and remain in place. Chrysotile is the only known “serpentine” form, so called because its fibres are snake shaped. Still highly hazardous, this form has a slightly lower tendency to penetrate tissue, absorbs moisture more easily and has a slightly higher tendency to be ejected from the lungs.
Health effects of asbestos are of course all negative, and are generally confined to respiratory conditions. Asbestosis is a physical scarring of lung tissue, Mesothelioma is a cancer formed generally in the pleural sac, and cancer of the lung itself is a common outcome of exposure to asbestos. Symptoms of asbestos conditions typically occur between 15 to 60 years after exposure.
