1.2 Mineralogical and mechanical properties of Asbestos

The majority of application areas for Asbestos result from the synthesis of different technical properties:

· high tensile strength
· resistance to moisture
· resistance to heat
· flexibility, elasticity
· cability of being spun
· flame retardant, fireproof
· insulation capacity
· good binding capability in many inorganic and organic binding materials
· chemical resistance (depending on Asbestos type, resistant against acids or bases)

The different Asbestos minerals demonstrate different characteristics influencing:

· potential application possibilities,
· the attractiveness of substances for multi-purposes,
· the resulting health hazards from the use.

In view of the above differences, there are different evaluation criteria among Asbestos minerals.

From a technological standpoint, chrysotile or white Asbestos demonstrates the most valuable characteristics, such as very high flexibility, fineness of fibers, capability of being spun, heat resistance, and alkali resistance. White Asbestos is therefore particularly important in addition to blue Asbestos (crocidolite) and amosite.

Table 6 shows an overview of figures for the most important types of Asbestos. More information can be found in the health and safety data sheet for Asbestos cement in the UK (Annex 2), and in an excerpt from the Compendium of Environmental Standards (KUSt, Katalog umweltrelevanter Standards), BMZ/GTZ (Annex 7).