Chrysotile Asbestos |
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Chrysotile asbestos is a type of asbestos known to cause mesothelioma. It is found in serpentine rock and is sometimes called serpentine. Chrysotile asbestos, or serpentine, is a polymorphous, magnesium-rich mineral that is typically found in metamorphic rocks. It can be non-fibrous or fibrous. In its non-fibrous state it is known as lizardite and antigorite, and in its fibrous state it is called chrysotile. Chrysotile fibers may be found in several forms that result from sheetlike crystals that have curled into tightly rolled tubes. The fibers have the appearance of fine threads or hairs and the tubes of rolled crystals usually occur in naturally formed bundles.
Chrysotile asbestos was predominantly mined in Canada with only small amounts of the ore having been produced from mines in the United States. The Canadian ore was almost entirely shipped to the United States to use in manufacturing plants in the United States.
Chrysotile asbestos was used predominantly in products manufactured in the United States. Although small amounts of chrysotile were mined in the United States, the overwhelming majority of the mesothelioma causing asbestos was mined in Canada and then shipped into the United States.
