1
|
Magherini L, Avataneo C, Capella S, Lasagna M, Bianco C, Belluso E, De Luca DA, Sethi R. Mobility of crocidolite asbestos in sandy porous media mimicking aquifer systems. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2023; 458:131998. [PMID: 37421855 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2023] [Revised: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/10/2023]
Abstract
Asbestos is widely recognized as being a carcinogen when dispersed in air, but very little is known about its exposure pathways in water and its subsequent effects on human health. Several studies have proved asbestos presence in groundwater but failed to assess its mobility in aquifer systems. This paper aims to fill this gap by studying the transport of crocidolite, an amphibole asbestos, through sandy porous media mimicking different aquifer systems. To this purpose, two sets of column test were performed varying the crocidolite suspension concentration, the quartz sand grain size distribution, and the physicochemical water parameters (i.e., pH). The results proved that crocidolite is mobile in quartz sand due to the repulsive interactions between fibres and porous media. The concentration of fibres at the outlet of the column were found to decrease when decreasing the grain size distribution of the porous medium, with a bigger impact on highly concentrated suspensions. In particular, 5-to-10-µm-long fibres were able to flow through all the tested sands while fibres longer than 10 µm were mobile only through the coarser medium. These results confirm that groundwater migration should be considered a potential exposure pathway while implementing human health risk assessment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Magherini
- Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, Italy
| | - Chiara Avataneo
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Turin, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Turin, Italy; "G. Scansetti" Interdepartmental Center for Studies on Asbestos and Other Toxic Particulates, University of Turin, Via Pietro Giuria 7, 10125 Turin, Italy
| | - Silvana Capella
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Turin, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Turin, Italy; "G. Scansetti" Interdepartmental Center for Studies on Asbestos and Other Toxic Particulates, University of Turin, Via Pietro Giuria 7, 10125 Turin, Italy
| | - Manuela Lasagna
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Turin, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Turin, Italy
| | - Carlo Bianco
- Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, Italy
| | - Elena Belluso
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Turin, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Turin, Italy; "G. Scansetti" Interdepartmental Center for Studies on Asbestos and Other Toxic Particulates, University of Turin, Via Pietro Giuria 7, 10125 Turin, Italy; Geosciences and Earth Resources (IGG) of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Operational Unit of Turin, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Turin, Italy
| | | | - Rajandrea Sethi
- Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, Italy; Clean Water Center (CWC), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Wylie AG, Candela PA. Methodologies for determining the sources, characteristics, distribution, and abundance of asbestiform and nonasbestiform amphibole and serpentine in ambient air and water. JOURNAL OF TOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH. PART B, CRITICAL REVIEWS 2015; 18:1-42. [PMID: 25825806 DOI: 10.1080/10937404.2014.997945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic and nonanthropogenic (erosion) processes contribute to the continuing presence of asbestos and nonasbestos elongated mineral particles (EMP) of amphibole and serpentine in air and water of urban, rural, and remote environments. The anthropogenic processes include disturbance and deterioration of asbestos-containing materials, mining of amphibole- and serpentine-bearing rock, and disturbance of soils containing amphibole and serpentine. Atmospheric dispersal processes can transport EMP on a global scale. There are many methods of establishing the abundance of EMP in air and water. EMP include cleavage fragments, fibers, asbestos, and other asbestiform minerals, and the methods employed do not critically distinguish among them. The results of most of the protocols are expressed in the common unit of fibers per square centimeter; however, seven different definitions for the term "fiber" are employed and the results are not comparable. The phase-contrast optical method used for occupational monitoring cannot identify particles being measured, and none of the methods distinguish amphibole asbestos from other EMP of amphibole. Measured ambient concentrations of airborne EMP are low, and variance may be high, even for similar environments, yielding data of questionable value for risk assessment. Calculations based on the abundance of amphibole-bearing rock and estimates of asbestos in the conterminous United States suggest that amphibole may be found in 6-10% of the land area; nonanthropogenic erosional processes might produce on the order of 400,000 tons or more of amphibole per year, and approximately 50 g asbestos/km(2)/yr; and the order of magnitude of the likelihood of encountering rock bearing any type of asbestos is approximately 0.0001.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ann G Wylie
- a Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, Department of Geology , University of Maryland , College Park , Maryland , USA
| | | |
Collapse
|