The six major forms of asbestos (1332214) were reviewed and then the most widely used form, chrysotile (12001295), was examined in more detail. The three largest industries using chrysotile include the asbestos/cement pipe industry, the asbestos friction products industry, and the asbestos textiles industry. A discussion was given for the production operations and products made in each of these industries. A brief comparison was included of the optical and electron microscopy techniques used in asbestos exposure evaluation. Since the invention of the steam engine, the uses for asbestos in the modern world have dramatically increased. Asbestos/cement pipe has become commonplace for water and sewage piping. The purpose of the asbestos mixed with the cement was to provide more strength and flexibility. The friction products industry involved the manufacture of brake linings, clutch facings, and transmission bands. In the asbestos textile industry both asbestos cloth and tape were produced. The United States Public Health Service, in 1964, initiated a comprehensive industrial hygiene study of these three industries to characterize the exposures to chrysotile asbestos and to establish a new sampling and analytical methods. Some recent research based on samples collected during this study was reviewed as well. In comparing the usefulness of phase contrast microscopy and electron microscopy, it was determined that the phase contrast microscopy technique provided relatively good indications of asbestos fibers greater than 5 micrometers in length.
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.
CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website.
For more information on CDC's web notification policies, see Website Disclaimers.
CDC.gov Privacy Settings
We take your privacy seriously. You can review and change the way we collect information below.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Cookies used to make website functionality more relevant to you. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests.
Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data.
Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties.
Thank you for taking the time to confirm your preferences. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page.