The difference between rock wool and asbestos
1. Raw materials
The raw materials for rock wool are basalt, dolomite, and various additives; The raw material of asbestos is natural inorganic crystalline mineral fibers, and the main ores are serpentine, hornblende, pyrophyllite, and brucite.
2. Production process
Rock wool is made by melting raw materials at a high temperature of 1400 ℃ and then undergoing several processes; Asbestos is a fluffy and soft fiber made from natural ores that have been mechanically dispersed.
3. Usage
Rock wool is generally directly used as a finished product in construction, pipelines, containers, vehicles, ships, etc; Asbestos is a semi-finished product, usually added as an auxiliary material to other materials to make asbestos rope, asbestos cloth, asbestos packing, asbestos board, asbestos tile, asbestos paper, etc.
4. Fiber diameter (carcinogenicity)
The fiber diameter of rock wool is mostly 2-6 microns, which is an amorphous artificial fiber. During processing and use, the fiber splits into segments, changing from one fiber to two shorter fibers. The fracture of rock wool fibers does not affect the change in fiber diameter and is not easy to enter the lungs through the respiratory tract, so it is not harmful to humans and has no carcinogenicity; The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a subsidiary of the World Health Organization (WHO), has conducted carcinogenic tests on rock wool (IARC is currently recognized as an authoritative organization) and concluded that rock wool products do not have carcinogenic effects on the human body.
The diameter of asbestos fibers is 0.02-2 microns. Due to the crystalline nature of asbestos fibers, if an asbestos fiber is subjected to external force, it will crack along the axis and become two finer fibers, and so on. If it does not break, it will become smaller fibers with a smaller diameter. The extremely fine asbestos fibers are easily inhaled into the human body, attached and deposited in the lungs, stimulating endometrial cells to cause lesions and leading to diseases such as lung cancer. This is why asbestos itself is harmless but can cause cancer.
Nowadays, asbestos has been recognized as a carcinogen by the International Center for Research on Cancer, so many countries have restricted or prohibited the use of asbestos products.
According to statistics from domestic scholars, "over 80% of modern people's lives are spent indoors." Good indoor air quality and building environment have a profound impact on people's physical health and work efficiency.
Therefore, for most building materials, in addition to the safety of the materials themselves, it is also necessary to consider whether the formaldehyde content exceeds the standard and other issues. The country has certain standards for the formaldehyde release of rock wool products, so choosing rock wool products within the national standards can greatly reduce the potential health threats caused by excessive formaldehyde in building materials in indoor environments.
