Asbestos-Cement

Asbestos-cement is a hard building material made by mixing asbestos fibers into cement, used for pipes, corrugated roofing, wall panels, and siding for much of the twentieth century. The fibers gave the cement strength and heat resistance. Though the fibers are bound in the material when intact, cutting, drilling, sanding, or breaking asbestos-cement releases them into the air.

Origin

The process was patented by the Austrian engineer Ludwig Hatschek in 1901 and marketed under the brand name Eternit. Asbestos-cement products spread worldwide over the following decades and were sold in the United States by manufacturers including Johns-Manville under names such as Transite.

Significance in Asbestos Context

Asbestos-cement matters to patients because it was so widespread that many people were exposed without ever knowing the material contained asbestos. It's often called a "non-friable" product, meaning the fibers stay bound while it's solid, but the routine work of installing and repairing it, sawing pipe, snapping sheets, grinding edges, produced clouds of respirable dust. Identifying that a patient worked with a specific asbestos-cement product, such as Transite pipe, can tie the exposure to a particular manufacturer. The chrysotile and amphibole fibers used in these products can also show up in later fiber-burden analysis of lung tissue.

Example Sentence

For two decades he cut Transite asbestos-cement pipe to length in the field, work that his expert testified would have released substantial respirable fiber.

Related Terms

Chrysotile, Amosite, Friable, Product Identification, Transite, Respirable Fiber

Notes

• Try to recall specific brand names such as Transite, Eternit, or the product form (pipe, siding, panel); brand identification links exposure to a manufacturer.
• Note tasks that disturbed the material, like cutting, drilling, or demolition, since those, not intact panels, are what released fibers.
• If old asbestos-cement remains in a home or worksite, don't cut or sand it yourself; document its presence with photos where relevant to a claim.