Chrysotile Asbestos

This work evaluates the risks to human health and the environment posed by exposure to chrysotile asbestos.

The report opens with a review of methods used for collecting and analyzing samples, followed by a discussion of sources of occupational and environmental exposure.

It then goes on to summarize the levels of chrysotile detected in the environment and in various occupational settings, and review what is known about the uptake, clearance, retention and translocation of inhaled or ingested fibres.

The most extensive sections review the results of toxicity studies conducted in laboratory mammals and in vitro test systems, and of epidemiological studies in occupationally exposed workers.