Asbestos testing and asbestiform mineral and synthetic fibre analysis to discern hazardous from non-hazardous respirable fibres for occupational exposure control, which is critical in understanding the risks posed in working with ores, concentrates and soils. Characterising what fraction is respirable, the morphology of this fraction, its’ biosolubility and known epidemiological effects are crucial in determining the exposure risk.
Asbestos Testing Techniques
The techniques we use are:
- Air monitoring
- Horizontal and vertical elutriation
- Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)/EDS/EBSD/Feature analysis
- Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)
- Optical microscopy
- Dissolution testing (synthetic lung fluid, stomach fluid etc.)
- X-ray Diffraction (XRD)
Only six different minerals are classified as asbestos. Chrysotile, Crocidolite (asbestiform Riebeckite), Amosite (asbestiform Grunerite), Actinolite, Tremolite and Anthophyllite (asbestiform Cummingtonite). All of these minerals were once sold commercially as asbestos, but they aren’t the only minerals with these properties. Later, it was discovered that other minerals with the same high aspect ratio and bioinsolubility caused the same kind of diseases. Some other hazardous fibres include Winchite, Richterite, and Erionite.
You can read more about Asbestos types in our ASBESTOS AND OTHER TYPES OF FIBRES articles.
