Ricerc@Sapienza

Asbestos was largely used in the past by several countries all over the world. From 1900 to 1990 asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) were produced in large amounts and mainly utilized to produce insulation, flame retardant materials, as well as to improve the mechanical and the chemical characteristics of construction materials. Its extensive use has therefore led to the presence of fibers in existing buildings and within the construction and demolition waste. A fast, reliable and accurate recognition of ACMs represents an important target to be reached.

Asbestos technological properties and its relatively low cost was the main reason, in
the past, for its wide utilization in many industrial sectors. Among the sectors, building and
construction ones utilized a lot of asbestos containing materials (ACM). During the construction and
demolition waste (C&DW) recycling process, ACM must be collected and separated from the other
wastes. C&DW materials includes, but are not limited to, bricks, concrete, masonry materials, roofing

Asbestos recognition, inside different matrices (i.e. Asbestos Containing Materials: ACMs), is of great importance both "in situ" and in the further analysis at lab scale. Among the industrial sectors utilizing asbestos, the building and construction sector is the most important, especially with reference to all the constructions built before the '90s. The large utilization of asbestos is mainly linked to its technical properties (i.e. resistance to abrasion, heat and chemicals).