Chrysotile asbestos, the fibrous variety of the mineral serpentine, is by far the most important type of asbestos.  It forms in metamorphic rock, that is, rock that has been altered by intense heat and pressure.

Chrysotile is a less dusty material and is more easily eliminated from the human body than amphiboles.  It is also the only type of asbestos used today.  The industry now only markets dense and non-friable materials in which the chrysotile fibre is encapsulated in cement or resin.

Ninety percent of the world production of chrysotile is used in the manufacture of chrysotile-cement which is used to form pipes, sheets and shingles.  These products are used in about sixty industrialized and developing countries.