How to Identify Asbestos
Although a person may suspect asbestos to be present in a piece
of material, no one can tell for certain if something is asbestos by merely
looking, smelling, or feeling it. The only way to determine for sure is to have
the material tested in an asbestos laboratory. Once the asbestos is at the lab,
an analyst will look at the sample under a microscope to see if the sample
contains asbestos.
There
are six kinds of asbestos fibers and they are all dangerous. The three most
common are:
Chrysotile -"white
asbestos"- 95% of all asbestos in buildings.
Amosite -"brown
asbestos"- less than 5% of asbestos in buildings.
Crocidolite -"blue
asbestos"- less than 5% of all asbestos.
The remaining three kinds of asbestos are rare. They are
anthophyllite, tremolite, and actinolite.
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