Asbestos is a natural mineral known to cause lung cancer called mesothelioma. In a recent report from MIT Technology Review, researchers determined that the carcinogenic mineral can be used as a new method to alleviate climate change.
Similar to forests, asbestos can be used as a carbon sink to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide. After studying samples, scientists believe that closed asbestos mines have the potential to absorb carbon dioxide on a global scale.
Before the mineral was used for industrial purposes, especially during the Industrial Age, asbestos fibers were used during the Stone Age as wicks for candles and lamps. During the time of the Ancient Egyptians, asbestos cloth was used to wrap Pharaohs for mummification.
Other civilizations used asbestos fibers to wrap pots and increase the fire resistance of vessels. By the Middle Ages, asbestos bags were filled with pitch and tar, set on fire, and were catapulted over city walls during a siege.
Wide Use of Asbestos
During the Industrial Revolution, asbestos was used as an insulator for steam engines, generators, and other parts due to its resistant properties against chemicals, extreme temperatures, electricity, and water. It also had malleable properties and was widely used as a commodity.
Eventually, it was discovered that the widely available mineral caused lung cancer and asbestosis, a type of lung disease. MIT's report said that the surface area of particular "types of asbestos... makes them particularly good at grabbing hold of the carbon dioxide molecules dissolved in rainwater or floating through the air."
Caleb Woodall from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute is one of the scientists testing samples of asbestos from the old mining site. He and other researchers are exploring ways that mining waste could alleviate climate change.
Read Also: Trees Grow Faster With Carbon Dioxide, but They Also Die Earlier
Carbon-Absorbing Properties
Asbestos in old sites do not have to be touched to absorb carbon, so scientists can avoid unnecessary exposure to the mineral. When asbestos compounds absorb carbon dioxide, it creates magnesites.
Roger Aines of the Carbon Initiative at Lawrence Livermore National Lab said that the use of old asbestos mines is a great "opportunity that could remove enormous amounts of CO2." MIT wrote that researchers are still figuring out "effectively and affordably dig up minerals, potentially including asbestos, specifically for the purpose of drawing down vast amounts of greenhouse gas from the atmosphere."
In 2019, De Beers, a diamond company, Natural Resources Canada, and Woodall's team measured how much carbon dioxide mining sites can potentially capture. In one asbestos site in Vermont, Woodall estimated that about 30 million tons of waste can potentially absorb 12 million tons of atmospheric carbon. According to the National Academies, by-products of mining sites around the world capture about 40 million tons of carbon dioxide each year.
However, there remain multiple factors to consider about using asbestos sites such as how mining sites destroy the environment. Also, minerals take several years to react with carbon dioxide. There are also health factors to consider before designing methods involving asbestos mines.
Read Also: Arctic 'Zombie' Wildfires Release Megatons of Carbon Dioxide
Check out more news and information on Climate Change on Science Times.
