Asbestos and Alternative Materials

Abstract

Asbestos is the trade name of material widely used in construction, especially in BRICS members. The high usage of asbestos due to its low cost coupled with their properties, such as electrical resistance, tensile strength, heat resistance and some acids, in addition to its flexibility derived from its fibrous feature, which allows it to be woven. However, it is also known that asbestos in the process of extraction and production is extremely dangerous for workers. Very thin fibers tend to turn into powder that is deposited in the lungs of workers, which may lead to loss of breathing capacity, pleural plaques, some cancers, and most often a disease called asbestosis. Although there is a tendency to ban asbestos in all regions and countries, as already occurs in the European Union, Brazil, and other countries with large housing deficit, maintains the use of asbestos in the production of fiber cement tiles. The article aims to discuss the dilemma of controlled use and ban asbestos, and present the progress of the search for alternative materials to asbestos in Brazil.