Re: Detecting asbestos fibers

From: me (dont_at_send.mail.com)
Date: 07/19/04 

Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 17:42:57 +0300

jjedwab@ulb.ac.be (jacques jedwab) wrote:

>Asbestos business is a serious one: one is playing with human
>lives!...Downplaying the difficulty and expertise is foolish.
>
>You need a good prep: clean glass slide, clean cover glass, immersion oil,
>good dispersion of all particles and clumps.
>
>You need a good light microscope: good adjustable light source (filament
>alignment and variable intensity), double diaphragm, Köhler illumination.
>Binocular viewing is best for avoiding eye strain.
>
>You need a good 40x objective, a 10x ocular eyepiece. You can do without a
>phase constrast device, but then your expertise should be at a very high
>level.
>
>You need some expertise to recognize each of the different asbestos
>fibres: crocidolite, amosite, chrysotile, which look quite different.
>Morbidity and regulations are widely different for the various
>asbestos-types.
>
>You need even more expertise to distinguish asbestos fibers from other
>fibrous silicates (fibrous talc, wollastonite,...which are also found in
>indoor households), from asbestos-looking Ca-sulfates (bassanite, gypsum,
>which are widely released in the outdoors by community heating with
>fuels), from chrysotile-like organic fibres (cellulose=kleenex), etc.,
>etc. This is why your microscope should better be equipped with
>polarizers.
>
>Sorry to say that: if you are not a well-trained expert, either you will
>never find asbestos (chances are that you are optimistic, or that you fear
>the expenses), or you will find it everywhere (if you are pessimistic or
>paranoiac).
>
>J.J.

Thanks you your comments.

I am not trying to have a second income from asbestos detection! Rest assured. If
I can I'll stay away from the stuff. I am looking for a microscope and have other
uses for it as well. This is more of a hobby related stuff. I don't want a toy
instrument so I might just as well buy a better scope (less than $1000).

>From what I gather if I look at a sample at a high magnification (say 100x
-1000x) and don't see anything resempbling straight arrow needle looking fibers I
can't say for sure if there is asbestos. However if I do see needle-looking
fibers there's a much better chance that asbestos might be there.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Detecting asbestos fibers
    ... lives!...Downplaying the difficulty and expertise is foolish. ... clean glass slide, clean cover glass, immersion oil, ... You need some expertise to recognize each of the different asbestos ... fibrous silicates (fibrous talc, wollastonite,...which are also found in ...
    (sci.materials)
  • Re: Using microscope to test for asbestos fibers
    ... lives!...Downplaying the difficulty and expertise is foolish. ... clean glass slide, clean cover glass, immersion oil, ... You need some expertise to recognize each of the different asbestos ... fibrous silicates (fibrous talc, wollastonite,...which are also found in ...
    (sci.techniques.microscopy)
  • Re: Using microscope to test for asbestos fibers
    ... > lives!...Downplaying the difficulty and expertise is foolish. ... > You need a good prep: clean glass slide, clean cover glass, immersion oil, ... > You need a good light microscope: ... > You need some expertise to recognize each of the different asbestos ...
    (sci.techniques.microscopy)
Loading