Chrysotile asbestos (CAS 12001-29-5): storage and disposal
Chrysotile is white asbestos, and it turns up in legacy heat mats and teaching samples in schools, colleges and universities. It may cause cancer and causes organ damage with repeated exposure, with the harm coming from breathing fibres. The rock specimen can look ordinary and even attractive, which is why it gets passed around. The rules on asbestos, and your site's duty holder, settle what happens to it.
- CAS number
- 12001-29-5
- Form
- Solid
- Storage class
- Toxic
- Signal word
- Danger
Serious health hazard
This chemical is a manual enquiry
This contains asbestos. Asbestos has its own handling and licensing rules, so it needs a specialist route.
Asbestos: regulated separately, never a chemical collection.
It cannot be priced through a form. Please do not open or move it. Call us or send an enquiry and we will talk through the safe next step, which is often a store assessment.
What to do this week
- Leave it where it is. If it looks old, crystalline or damaged, do not open or move it and keep people away from the shelf.
- Write down the label wording, the rough age and where it is stored, from a safe distance.
- Send us those details, and a photo if you can take one without touching it.
Safe storage in a school or lab
Teaching specimens usually come as a fibrous, silky lump in a small box or a labelled geology tray, while heat mats are flat grey-white sheets in a bench drawer. Neither form needs to be stored differently from how it is found. That is the point: leave it undisturbed. A specimen box should stay closed on its shelf and out of any handling collection, with a plain warning on it if that can be done without lifting it. Heat mats should not be stacked, trimmed or reused. Tell the person responsible for asbestos at the site, so it goes on their records. Do not move it to a tidier cupboard, because every move risks loosening more of the soft fibres.
How to tell it has deteriorated
Start with the box or the tray. A cracked lid, a split specimen bag or a paper label that has come away leaves a fibrous lump with nothing to say what it is. Chrysotile fibres are soft and curly, and old specimens can look frayed or fluffy at the edges, with loose white strands in the bottom of the box. Mats tend to wear at the corners and go powdery where hot glassware once sat. The mineral does not break down chemically, so the danger grows only as it gets more worn and loose. Colour alone is not proof of type, so nobody should try to identify a sample by handling it. Stop looking once you have seen enough to report it.
How it must be disposed of
This does not go through our standard collection route. It is arranged by manual enquiry, and never goes down the drain or into general waste.
Licensed or notified specialists take it away, once the person responsible for asbestos at your site has arranged the work. The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 cover it, and that makes it a separate job from any chemical clearance. It is not quoted online and it is not a lab pack item. A school science department usually reports up to the site manager or the employer's asbestos lead, who should already have a process. Where nobody seems to know, a manual enquiry to us can help you work out the next step, and a store assessment is recommended. Say what you found, how many pieces and which room. Do not open the box, and do not move it to a collection point.
| Hazardous waste | Yes |
|---|
No List of Waste code is given here. The waste is outside the chemical collection stream and is assessed by manual enquiry.
The code depends on where the waste came from and what it is mixed with. Use the waste code finder to see why.
Common quantities we collect
Usually held as: legacy heat mats, teaching samples.
Part-used bottles and full containers are both fine. Tell us the size and how many, and an estimate is enough for a first price.
Where it is commonly held
Hazard statements
- H350 May cause cancer.
- H372 Causes damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure.
Precautionary statements
- P203 Obtain, read and follow all safety instructions before use.
- P260 Do not breathe dust, fume, gas, mist, vapours or spray.
- P264 Wash hands and exposed skin thoroughly after handling.
- P270 Do not eat, drink or smoke when using this product.
- P280 Wear protective gloves, protective clothing, eye protection and face protection.
- P318 If exposed or concerned, get medical advice.
- P319 Get medical help if you feel unwell.
- P405 Store locked up.
- P501 Dispose of contents and container in accordance with local, regional, national and international regulations.
Substance as classified, dilutions may differ.
Questions
Our geology set has a chrysotile specimen. Can students still handle it under supervision?
No. Handling a soft fibrous specimen is what releases fibres, and supervision does not change that. Stop using it, keep the box closed and in place, and tell the person responsible for asbestos at your site. Photographs or other teaching materials can do the same job in lessons.
Is white asbestos less serious than the blue or brown types?
It is classified as causing cancer and causing organ damage through prolonged or repeated exposure, and it falls under the same asbestos rules as the other types. A site should not treat it more casually because of its colour. The same steps apply: leave it undisturbed and report it to the duty holder.
There are loose white strands in the bottom of the specimen box. What does that tell us?
It suggests the sample is shedding, so the contents may be more easily disturbed than a firm lump would be. Do not lift the lid again, tip the box out or brush the strands together. Mention the loose material when you report it, as it affects how specialists will approach the job.
