Asbestos can also cause asbestosis, a scarring of the lungs that leads to breathing problems and heart failure. Workers who manufacture or use asbestos products and have high exposures to asbestos are often affected with this. Inhalation of asbestos can also cause lung cancer and mesothelioma, a rare cancer of the lining of the chest and abdomen. However, the crushing of Cellaris ceramic foam produces ordinary dust particles similar in shape to those common in the environment, and therefore do not pose the equivalent health hazards. The foam is made of aluminum oxide, a common high-temperature ceramic, but gets its extraordinary insulating powers from the many tiny air bubbles within the material.
Air is an excellent thermal insulator, but needs to be trapped, as in a blanket, to be effective.
The foam can be used not only for thermal insulation, but for a variety of other applications such as acoustic insulation and adsorption of environmental pollutants. Its low density can be important in applications where weight is at a premium. The product is generated by heating special crystals to boiling point, resulting in the ceramic oxide foam. Asbestos is a naturally occurring group of minerals that can only be identified under a microscope. There are several types of these flexible, fire-resistant fibers.