WHAT DOES ASBESTOS LOOK LIKE Asbestos is a name for six kinds of minerals that mostly used commercially in buildings. The six types are amosite (brown asbestos), chrysotile (white asbestos), tremolite (silicic acid; calcium magnesium salt), actinolite, anthophylite (ferroanthophylite; azbolen asbestos), and crocidolite (blue asbestos).