Sustainable management of hazardous asbestos-containing materials: Containment, stabilization and inertization.

Asbestos is a group of six major silicate minerals that belong to the serpentine and amphibole families, and include chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, anthophyllite, tremolite and actinolite. Weathering and human disturbance of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) can lead to the emission of asbestos dust, and the inhalation of respirable asbestos fibrous dust can lead to 'mesothelioma' cancer and other diseases, including the progressive lung disease called 'asbestosis'. There is a considerable legacy of in-situ ACMs in the built environment, and it is not practically or economically possible to safely remove ACMs from the built environment.