This paper reviews the fruitful results and main shortcomings in the study of the environmental safety of fibrous mineral dusts, and proposes that attention should be paid not only to the requirements of characteristic divergences in fiber dose, length and fineness but also to the impacts of the method of sample preparation, sample locality, origin, composition etc. Emphasis is put on the effects of the broken bonds of fiber, active free radicals, activity center, fiber charge, catalysis, oxidization_reduction,“surface media”etc. The authors explain the importance of revealing the disease_causing mechanism of fiber dusts from the surface activity and mineral-bio-chemical processes, i.e. discuss the surface chemical activity-biological activity_biological toxicity-bio-resistibility environmental safety of natural fiber material from the surface groups and total features of minerals, and seek to assess an attribute of mineral application from a combination of industrial minerals, environmental medicine and material value. Finally, the authors suggest that consensus should be reached on the definition of fibers, sample surface and test method, and that the types of asbestos minerals should be strictly distinguished.