How can I identify asbestos?

Asbestos is a group of naturally occurring minerals found in rock, sediment and soil around the world, including Australia. The asbestos mineral was once mined and processed to form thousands of products, such break pads, curtains, floor tiles, wall linings and even clothing.

Asbestos minerals vary in colour and fibre type and include white, brown and blue fibres.

Refined asbestos fibres, being those found in building products contain visible fibre bundles as well as invisible fibres that you can’t see as they can be 50 to 200 times thinner than a human hair. It’s easier to imagine asbestos as a mozzarella cheese stick, where you can peel off smaller and smaller strings from the cheese. The same principle applies to asbestos, slight disturbances of fibres can result in splintering which is what makes asbestos dangerous

Unfortunately, the presence of asbestos cannot be verified by visual inspection alone. Testing by a National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) laboratory, accredited for the method of Australian Standard 4964-2004 is the only way to verify the presence of asbestos.

If in doubt that a material contains asbestos, follow the golden rule - if you think it might be asbestos, treat it like it is, and contact a licensed asbestos assessor such as Confluence Environmental.