What is asbestos?

Asbestos is the name given to various forms of naturally occurring, fibrous silicate minerals found in the earth.

Asbestos was used extensively in building materials up to the late 1980s because of its durability, fire resistance and insulating properties.

Asbestos can be described as either friable or non-friable:

• When dry, friable asbestos can be crumbled, pulverised or reduced to powder by hand pressure, or as a result of a work process it may become such that it can be crumbled, pulverised or reduced to powder by hand pressure.
• When dry, non-friable asbestos cannot be crumbled, pulverised or reduced to powder by hand pressure.

While friable asbestos poses the most immediate health risk, the use of any form of asbestos is banned, making it illegal to manufacture, supply, transport, store, sell, install or reuse asbestos-containing materials or products.