Asbestos: A Difficult-to-Repace Material

Asbestos is not used in ceramic body or glaze formulations, it is used to make insulating boards and blankets for kilns and furnaces. It performs extremely well as a refractory and has been difficult to replace, it is still used. A number of man made fibers have been developed but these have presented similar health hazards and have proven unsuitable for other reasons. Recently however, soluble fibers have been introduced, these dissolve over time in the lungs. However they are not as refractory.

Asbestos is a fibrous magnesium silicate. Its hazards are well known and related to the particle shape and size and the ease with which these can be trapped deep within the air pockets of the lungs. Talc is also a fibrous magnesium silicate.

Out Bound Links

• (Hazards) Talc Hazards Overview
  Hazards of this material in the ceramic industry a...
• (Hazards) Talc Toxicology
  Hazards of this material in the ceramic industry a...
• (URLs) Asbestos at ilo.org
  http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safew...

In Bound Links

• (Hazards) Man-Made Vitreous Vibers (MMVF)
  Hazards of aluminum silicate ceramic fiber insulat...
• (Minerals) Asbestos

  'Asbestos' is a generic term referring to a group ...