1.3The three types you'll hear about

Doctors and lawyers will use three names a lot. They refer to the three main types of asbestos that were used commercially in the UK.

Chrysotile, or white asbestos. Soft, curly fibres. The most-used type by a long way. It went into roofing sheets, insulation board, brake linings, gaskets and pipe lagging. It was the last to be banned in the UK, on 24 November 1999.

Amosite, or brown asbestos. Straighter, harder fibres. Common in insulation boards, ceiling tiles and pipe insulation in mid-20th-century commercial buildings, hospitals and schools. Banned in the UK in 1985.

Crocidolite, or blue asbestos. The most hazardous type per fibre. Used in spray coatings, fireproofing, some cement products and the famous limpet insulation in ships and offices. Banned in the UK in 1985.

Two further types, tremolite and actinolite, were not used in commercial products on any meaningful scale in the UK but turn up as contaminants in talc and in some imported materials.

The colours are a guide, not a diagnosis. Once asbestos is mixed into a product, you can’t reliably tell which type it is by looking. That’s a job for a laboratory.

For a mesothelioma claim, the type of asbestos sometimes matters and sometimes doesn’t. The science accepts that all three commercial types can cause mesothelioma. Blue is the most potent per fibre; brown is also potent; white is the least, but still capable. If anyone tells you white asbestos is safe, they are wrong, and the courts have been clear on that for decades.