Asbestos is a fibrous mineral silicate with a crystalline structure that comes from a mineral rock. Over the millennia is has been used in building materials because of its high tensile strength, flexibility, resistance to chemicals, high temperatures and stress. As a result, it can be found in most buildings built before the nineteen eighties. Typically the materials being used were floor tiles, mastics, floor screeding, roofing sheets, joint compound, plaster, textured coatings, pipe insulation, insulations board, sprayed and applied thermal insulation but to name a few.
It is estimated that ten million tons of asbestos were used in the United Kingdom between 1900 and 1975 with probably sixty five percent of that still in place.
There are six types of asbestos. Chrysotile, the most widely used asbestos, is the only one in the serpentine group of phyllosilicates (sheet silicates). It has a crystalline structure that is very different from the rest.
The remaining five, Amosite, Crocidolite, Anthophyllite, Tremolite and Actinolite, are all amphiboles. In its natural state, asbestos is commonly a white, brown, or blue.
Contact ACE to see how we can assist you with your Asbestos related issues.
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