Asbestos is a natural mineral substance produced by the decomposition of certain rocks. It has a very characteristic fibrous texture; it is sometimes silky in appearance and the colour varies greatly, being usually white, but sometimes grey, greenish, blue or dark brown. Its main property is its resistance to fire and acids. Crocidolite is the asbestos form of riebeckite. It is found in the form of fibre bundles in magmatic rock which is acid with a high alkali content and also in metamorphic rock. It is dark blue to black or dark green and is translucent to partially opaque. Crocidolite asbestos, also known as blue asbestos, has a greater tensile strengths but a lower resistance to heat and less elastic fibres than other forms of asbestos and is acid resistant but not base resistant. It is considered the most dangerous form of asbestos. The heading applies to crude asbestos in rock form, to raw, beaten or washed fibres, whether graded to length or not, to asbestos in flakes or powder and also to asbestos waste. The heading excludes fibre which has been further processed (carded, dyed, etc.) and finished articles of asbestos (heading 68.12).
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