Our aim in this work is (1) to characterize mineralogically and geochemically the brown amphibole and other minerals filling millimetric veins in the Cóbdar metabasalts of the Betic ophiolites in southern Spain, and (2) to deduce their genetic conditions, mainly with the aid of the optical microscopy and analytical electron-microprobe analysis, complemented by transmission and analytical electr...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW This review assesses the risk of developing diffuse malignant mesothelioma of the pleura from exposures to chrysotile fibers and contrasts it with the known risk of amphibole asbestos. RECENT FINDINGS Although a rare cancer, the mortality rates of pleural mesothelioma continue to be significantly elevated because of past occupational exposures to airborne asbestos fibers. Ne...

OBJECTIVES Based on observed numbers of incident mesotheliomas since 1972, to predict future numbers in men in New South Wales. METHODS The incidence of mesothelioma was modelled in two ways. First by using an age/birth cohort model, and second by using a model based on potential exposure to asbestos in terms of age and calendar year. The latter model included a term for clearance of asbestos...

The community members of Libby, MT, have experienced significant asbestos exposure and developed numerous asbestos-related diseases including fibrosis and lung cancer due to an asbestos-contaminated vermiculite mine near the community. The form of asbestos in the contaminated vermiculite has been characterized in the amphibole family of fibers. However, the pathogenic effects of these fibers ha...

Recycled oceanic crust, with or without sediment, is often invoked as a source component of continental and oceanic alkaline magmas to account for their trace-element and isotopic characteristics. Alternatively, these features have been attributed to sources containing veined, metasomatized lithosphere. In melting experiments on natural amphibole-rich veins at 1.5 gigapascals, we found that par...

Asbestos is the generic commercial designation for a group of naturally occurring mineral silicate fibres of the serpentine and amphibole series. These include the serpentine mineral chrysotile (also known as ‘white asbestos’), and the five amphibole minerals – actinolite, amosite (also known as ‘brown asbestos’), anthophyllite, crocidolite (also known as ‘blue asbestos’), and tremolite (IARC, ...

The purpose of this paper is to review research in the health effects and risks associated with exposure to asbestos and then to use this scientific evidence to analyze the implications of Canada's current policy on the use, manufacturing and export of asbestos. The review begins with a brief historical introduction to asbestos, and then moves on to look at the risks associated with asbestos ex...