Serpentinite and Asbestos

Serpentinite Asbestos - Because asbestos is resistant to heat and flame it has been used in a number of consumer and industrial products from paper to brake pads on motor vehicles. It is a mineral fiber that grows in crystalline form in rocks such as Serpentine. The fibers of asbestos when inhaled can cause lung cancer. Mesothelioma is a form of lung cancer that is being diagnosed more and more in modern times though it was once considered to be rare. It is directly tied with inhalation of asbestos being its most common cause.

Going back to ancient Greek culture even they were aware of the dangers of asbestos if inhaled. They noticed the lung disease it caused when slaves used it as a fiber to weave into fabric. Since it is a fire retarding material it was very popular in the early twentieth century for use in many products. It has been mixed with concrete and also the compound that fills the joints between drywall panels. It even used to be found in the filters of the "Kent" brand of cigarettes.

It is the shape of the asbestos fibers that is believed to be the cause of the health issues. at the end of an asbestos fiber is a hook that allows it to grab onto lung tissue and remain. The fibers are much smaller than the thickness of a human hair and cannot be seen by the naked eye.

July 2010 suddenly saw a lot of discussion about a rock type called serpentinite. Geologists in California were incensed that the state wanted to do away with its official state rock (see article in the New York Times). Geologists and notably petrologists elsewhere were delighted that a rock was making the limelight. Serpentinite is a rock type that can contain one of the six naturally occurring minerals used as source material for asbestos construction materials, now a known health hazard in certain conditions.



The rock

The rock is the result of a process called serpentinization, which replaces ferromagnesian minerals such as olivine by serpentine. Roughly speaking, it's magmatic ocean floor rock which has undergone low-temperature and low-pressure metamorphism, typical of ocean floor conditions. (See this NOAA page for some more information.) Gem stone quality serpentinite can also be known as jade.

[via - righthealth.co]