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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.
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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.
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Kwak K, Zoh KE, Paek D. Incidence of Cancer and Asbestos-Related Diseases among Residents Living near Abandoned Asbestos Mines in South Korea: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using National Health Insurance Database. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:875. [PMID: 33498425 PMCID: PMC7908467 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18030875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Revised: 01/07/2021] [Accepted: 01/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The use of asbestos has been banned since 2009 in South Korea. However, there is still a risk of exposure to environmental asbestos originating from abandoned asbestos mines. We constructed a retrospective dynamic cohort using the National Health Insurance Database of South Korea. We determined the risk of developing asbestos-related diseases (ARDs) among residents living near asbestos mines compared with those living in the control area and the general population. The risks of asbestosis (adjusted hazards ratio [HR] 65.40, 95% CI = 35.02-122.12) and pleural plaques (adjusted HR 3.55, 95% CI = 1.96-6.41) were significantly increased among residents living near the asbestos mines compared with the control area. The risk of malignant mesothelioma was increased near asbestos mines compared with the control area; however, it was not significant (adjusted HR 1.83, 95% CI = 0.61-5.47). When a separate analysis according to sex was conducted, the risk of mesothelioma among male residents was statistically significant (adjusted HR 8.30, 95% CI = 1.04-66.63), and the standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was significantly increased (SIR 3.48, 95% CI = 1.50-6.85). The risk of ARDs was increased due to environmental asbestos exposure near abandoned asbestos mines in South Korea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyeongmin Kwak
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Korea University Ansan Hospital, Ansan 15355, Korea;
| | - Kyung Ehi Zoh
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea;
| | - Domyung Paek
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea;
- Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
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Belanger SE, Cherry DS, Cairns J, McGuire MJ. Using Asiatic Clams as a Biomonitor for Chrysotile Asbestos in Public Water Supplies. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1987. [DOI: 10.1002/j.1551-8833.1987.tb02817.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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