test results must have been incorrect, although they later said they do not test for asbestos. in may 2000, crayola said tests by richard lee, a materials analyst whose testimony on behalf of the asbestos industry has been accepted in lawsuits over 250 times, found its crayons tested negative for asbestos. in spite of that, in june 2000 binney & smith, the maker of crayola, and the other makers agreed to stop using talc in their products, and changed their product formulations in the united states. the mining company r t vanderbilt co of gouverneur, new york, which supplied the talc to the crayon makers, states that "to the best of our knowledge and belief" there had never been any asbestos-related disease among the company's workers. however media reports claim that the united states mine safety and health administration (msha) had found asbestos in four talc samples tested in 2000. the assistant secretary for mine safety and health subsequently wrote to the news reporter, stating that "in fact, the abbreviation nd (non-detect) in the laboratory report – indicates no asbestos fibers actually were found in the samples." multiple studies by mineral chemists, cell biologists, and toxicologists between 1970 and 2000 found neither samples of asbestos in talc products nor symptoms of asbestos exposure among workers dealing with talc, but more recent work has rejected these conclusions in favor of "same as" asbestos risk. on 12 july 2018, a missouri jury ordered johnson & johnson to pay a record $4.69 billion to 22 women who alleged the company's talc-based products, including its baby powder, contain asbestos and caused them to develop ovarian cancer. types and associated fibers six mineral types are defined by the epa as "asbestos" including those belonging to the serpentine class and those belonging to the amphibole class. all six asbestos mineral types are known to be human carcinogens. the visible fibers are themselves each composed of millions of microscopic "fibrils" that can be released by abrasion and other processes. chrysotile asbestos asbestos fibers asbestos blue asbestos (crocidolite), the ruler is 1 cm blue asbestos, teased to show the fibrous nature of the mineral serpentine size of asbestos fibers compared to other particles (usepa, march 1978)serpentine class fibers are curly. chrysotile, cas no. 12001-29-5 , is the only asbestos classed as a serpentine fiber. it is obtained from serpentinite rocks which are common throughout the world. its idealized chemical formula is mg3(si2o5)(oh)4. chrysotile appears under the microscope as a white fiber. chrysotile has been used more than any other type and accounts for about 95% of the asbestos found in buildings in america. chrysotile is more flexible than amphibole types of asbestos and can be spun and woven into fabric. the most common use was corrugated asbestos cement roofing primarily for outbuildings, warehouses, and garages. it may also be found in sheets or panels used for ceilings and sometimes for walls and floors. chrysotile has been a component in joint compound and some plasters. numerous other items have been made containing chrysotile including brake linings, fire barriers in fuseboxes, pipe insulation, floor tiles, residential shingles, and gaskets for high-temperature equipment. amphibole amphibole class fibers are needle-like. amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, anthophyllite and actinolite are members of the amphibole class. amosite amosite, cas no. 12172-73-5 , often referred to as brown asbestos, is a trade name for the amphiboles belonging to the cummingtonite-grunerite solid solution series, commonly from south africa, named as a partial acronym for "asbestos mines of south africa". one formula given for amosite is fe7si8o22(oh)2. amosite is seen under a microscope as a grey-white vitreous fiber. it is found most frequently as a fire retardant in thermal insulation products, asbestos insulating board and ceiling tiles. crocidolite crocidolite, cas no. 12001-28-4 , commonly known as blue asbestos, is the fibrous form of the amphibole riebeckite, found primarily in southern africa, but also in australia and bolivia. one formula given for crocidolite is na2feii3feiii2si8o22(oh)2. crocidolite is seen under a microscope as a blue fiber. crocidolite commonly occurs as soft friable fibers. asbestiform amphibole may also occur as soft friable fibers but some varieties such as amosite are commonly straighter. all forms of asbestos are fibrillar in that they are composed of fibers with breadths less than 1 micrometer in bundles of very great widths. asbestos with particularly fine fibers is also referred to as "amianthus". other materials other regulated asbestos minerals, such as tremolite asbestos, cas no. 77536-68-6 , ca2mg5si8o22(oh)2; actinolite asbestos, cas no. 77536-66-4, ca2(mg,feii)5(si8o22)(oh)2; and anthophyllite asbestos, cas no. 77536-67-5 , (mg,feii)7si8o22(oh)2; are less commonly used industrially but can still be found in a variety of construction materials and insulation materials and have been used in a few consumer products. other natural asbestiform minerals, such as richterite, na(cana)(mg,feii)5(si8o22)(oh)2, and winchite, (cana)mg4(al,feiii)(si8o22)(oh)2, though not regulated, are said by some to be no less harmful than tremolite, amosite, or crocidolite. they are termed "asbestiform" rather than asbestos. although the u.s. occupational safety and health administration (osha) has not included them in the asbestos standard, niosh and the american thoracic society have recommended them for inclusion as regulated materials because they may also be hazardous to health. "mountain leather" is an old-fashioned term for flexible, sheet-like natural formations of asbestiform minerals which resemble leather. asbestos-containing minerals known to form mountain leather include: actinolite, sepiolite, and tremolite. production world production of asbestos (metric tons) from 1900 to 2017 with trend line in 2017, 1.3 million tonnes of asbestos were mined worldwide. russia was the largest producer with 53% of the world total, followed by kazakhstan (16%), china (15%), and brazil (11.5%). asia consumes some 70% of the asbestos produced in the world with china, india and indonesia the largest consumers. in 2009, about 9% of the world's asbestos production was mined in canada. in late 2011, canada's remaining two asbestos mines, both located in quebec, halted operations. in september 2012, the quebec government halted asbestos mining. health impact main article: health impact of asbestos left-sided mesothelioma (seen on the right of the image): chest ct the most common diseases associated with chronic asbestos exposure are asbestosis (scarring of the lungs due to asbestos inhalation) and mesothelioma (cancer associated with asbestos). mesothelioma is an aggressive form of cancer and often leads to a life expectancy of less than 12 months after diagnosis. all types of asbestos fibers are known to cause serious health hazards in humans and animals. amosite and crocidolite are considered the most hazardous asbestos fiber types; however, chrysotile asbestos has also produced tumors in animals and is a recognized cause of asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma in humans, and mesothelioma has been observed in people who were occupationally exposed to chrysotile, family members of the occupationally exposed, and residents who lived close to asbestos factories and mines. during the 1980s and again in the 1990s, the asbestos industry suggested at times that the process of making asbestos cement could "neutralize" the asbestos, either via chemical processes or by causing the cement to attach to the fibers and changing their physical size; subsequent studies showed that this was untrue and that decades-old asbestos cement, when broken, releases asbestos fibers identical to those found in nature, with no detectable alteration. exposure to asbestos in the form of fibers is always considered dangerous. working with, or exposure to, material that is friable, or materials or works that could cause the release of loose asbestos fibers, is considered high risk. in general, people who become ill from inhaling asbestos have been regularly exposed in a job where they worked directly with the material. the us occupational safety and health administration (osha) has standards to protect workers from the hazards of exposure to asbestos in the workplace. the permissible exposure limit for asbestos is 0.1 fiber per cubic centimeter of air as an eight-hour time-weighted average, with an excursion limit of 1.0 asbestos fibers per cubic centimeter over a 30-minute period. regulation complete bans on asbestos asbestos warning label under eu directive of 1983 worldwide, 66 countries and territories (including all those in the european union) have banned the use of asbestos. exemptions for minor uses are permitted in some countries listed; however, all countries listed must have banned the use of all types of asbestos. algeria czech republic iraq mauritius slovakia argentina denmark ireland monaco slovenia australia djibouti israel mozambique south africa austria egypt italy netherlands spain bahrain estonia japan new zealand sweden belgium finland jordan norway switzerland brazil france south korea oman taiwan brunei gabon kuwait poland turkey bulgaria germany latvia portugal united kingdom canada gibraltar liechtenstein qatar uruguay chile greece lithuania romania colombia honduras luxembourg saudi arabia croatia hungary north macedonia serbia cyprus iceland malta seychelles australia asbestos products ltd (sydney) asbestos cement corrugated roofing for export the use of crocidolite (blue asbestos) was banned in 1967, while the use of amosite (brown asbestos) continued in the construction industry until the mid-1980s. it was finally banned from building products in 1989, though it remained in gaskets and brake linings until 31 december 2003, and cannot be imported, used, or recycled. asbestos continues to be a problem in australia. two out of three homes in australia built between world war ii and the early 1980s still contain asbestos. the union that represents workers tasked with modifying electrical meter boxes at residences stated that workers should refuse to do this work until the boxes have been inspected for asbestos, and the head of the australian council of trade unions (actu) has called on the government to protect its citizens by ridding the country of asbestos by 2030. handlers of asbestos materials must have a b-class license for bonded asbestos and an a-class license for friable asbestos. the town of wittenoom, in western australia, was built around a (blue) asbestos mine. the entire town continues to be contaminated and has been disincorporated, allowing local authorities to remove references to wittenoom from maps and road signs. canada as of december 31st 2018, it is illegal to import, manufacture, sell, trade, or use products made from asbestos. there are exemptions for its use in the chloralkali industry, the military, nuclear facilities, and for magnesium extraction from asbestos mining residues. japan revelations that hundreds of workers had died in japan over the previous few decades from diseases related to asbestos sparked a scandal in mid-2005. tokyo had, in 1971, ordered companies handling asbestos to install ventilators and check health regularly; however, the japanese government did not ban crocidolite and amosite until 1995, and a near-complete ban with a few exceptions on asbestos was implemented in 2006, with the remaining exceptions being removed in march 2012 for a full-fledged ban. new zealand in 1984, the import of raw amphibole (blue and brown) asbestos into new zealand was banned. in 2002 the import of chrysotile (white) asbestos was also banned. in 2015 the government announced that the importation of asbestos would be completely banned with very limited exceptions (expected to be applied to replacement parts for older machines) that would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. north-west of nelson, in the upper takaka valley, is new zealand's only commercially harvested asbestos mine. a low-grade chrysotile was mined here from 1908 to 1917 but only 100 tons were washed and taken out by packhorse. a new power scheme enabled work to renew and between 1940 and 1949, 40 tons a month was mined by the hume company. this continued to 1964, when, due to the short length of its fibre, the limited commercial viability forced mining to cease. south korea in may 1997, the manufacture and use of crocidolite and amosite, commonly known as blue and brown asbestos, were fully banned in south korea. in january 2009, a full-fledged ban on all types of asbestos occurred when the government banned the manufacture, import, sale, storage, transport or use of asbestos or any substance containing more than 0.1% of asbestos. in 2011, south korea became the world's sixth country to enact an asbestos harm aid act, which entitles any korean citizen to free lifetime medical care as well as monthly income from the government if he or she is diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease. united kingdom in the united kingdom, blue and brown asbestos materials were banned outright in 1985 while the import, sale, and secondhand reuse of white asbestos