Abstract: Industrial exhaust polyaromatic hydrocarbons are readily absorbed by flowing through a bed of dry porous pellets consisting of a mixture of natural magnesium silicate selected from short chrysotile asbestos fibers, attapulgite and mixtures thereof with a cementitious clay binder, the latter representing from 1 to 20% by weight of the dry pellets, whereby substantially all the particulate and gaseous pollutants present in the exhaust material are adsorbed by the dry porous pellets.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for enhancing the water-retention capacity of soils and providing plant nutrients to same over an extended period of time. This method comprises the admixing of soils with from 2 to 30% by weight of a chryso-zeolite of type A/and or X which comprises a magnesium leached asbestos matrix having an SiO.sub.2 content of 37 to 60% wt %, an MgO content of 0.1 to 15% by weight, an Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3 content of 0.1 to 2.5% by weight and containing from 10 to 25% by weight of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 and from 25 to 35% by weight of Na.sub.2 O, and/or K.sub.2 O, and/or CaO, and/or (NH.sub.4).sub.2 O.

Abstract: There is disclosed chemically modified chrysotile asbestos fibers, more particularly phosphated asbestos fibers containing from 0.5 to 5% by weight of phosphate groups and heat treated phosphated asbestos fibers, both of which have an infrared spectrum which exhibits substantially no absorption within the range of 954-1080 cm.sup.-1. The novel phosphated asbestos fibers are characterized by reduced haemolytic and cytotoxic activities.