Anthophyllite asbestos from Staten Island, New York: Longitudinal fiber splitting

Our plain-English summary of Anthophyllite asbestos from Staten Island, New York: Longitudinal fiber splitting, by M. Germine, J.H. Puffer (Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, 2022).

The study

• Authors: M. Germine, J.H. Puffer
• Journal: Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health
• Published: 2022;77(4):268-275
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Asbestos ore was sampled from a historical anthophyllite mine in Staten Island, New York. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) was used to image the structure of nineteen fibers of the anthophyllite asbestos. The anthophyllite was characterized by a high level of chain width disorder, involving wide chain multiplicity faults (CMFs) that were frequent in fibers, randomly spaced, and ranged from one to eight chains in width. This chain width disorder was manifest by streaking of electron diffraction rows of chain width. The anthophyllite asbestos fibers were found to be produced by longitudinal splitting rather than crystal growth. Such splitting is a function of cleavage along CMFs rather than crystal boundaries. The morphology of the fibers is consistent with anthophyllite asbestos mined in Finland associated with lung cancer and mesothelioma. These findings may have regulatory implications.

In plain English

This was a laboratory study of mineral samples, not a study of people. The authors collected boulders of anthophyllite asbestos ore from the floor of a former mine at Ward Hill, Staten Island, New York. They examined the ore with X-ray diffraction, light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. About 70% of the rock was anthophyllite and cummingtonite in nearly equal amounts, with about 20% talc and 10% kaolinite. When the ore was ground, crystals split lengthwise into finer fibers. The authors reported that the fibers formed by splitting, not by crystal growth. All twenty fibers analyzed by electron microscopy showed high disorder in the width of their mineral chains. Nineteen were anthophyllite and one was cummingtonite. Long, thin fibers made up less than 5% of fibers in the ground sample. The authors stated that the fibers would not qualify as asbestiform under commonly applied criteria. They concluded that the ore closely resembles Finnish anthophyllite that earlier studies linked to lung cancer and mesothelioma, and should be assumed equally dangerous. They noted that no health studies of this mine exist.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Laboratory mineralogical study (electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and polarized light microscopy of ore samples); no human or animal health data
• Who was studied: Rock boulders found on the former mine floor of the historic Ward Hill anthophyllite asbestos mine, Staten Island, New York; the site had been sampled by the authors in 1980 and has since been remediated. Twenty fibers were analyzed by TEM.
• Exposure: Anthophyllite asbestos ore (anthophyllite-cummingtonite-talc schist), ground in a mortar and pestle for analysis
• Main results:
  • By X-ray diffraction, about 70% of the rock was anthophyllite and cummingtonite in nearly equal volume, with about 20% talc and 10% kaolinite
  • On grinding, fibers were produced by lengthwise splitting rather than by crystal growth
  • All 20 fibers analyzed by TEM had high chain-width disorder; 19 were anthophyllite and 1 was cummingtonite
  • Chain multiplicity faults were up to 8 chains wide and randomly spaced about 3 to 30 nm apart; the authors linked them to the lengthwise splitting
  • Long, thin fibers made up less than 5% of fibers in the ground sample
  • The authors stated that the Staten Island anthophyllite would not qualify as asbestiform under commonly applied criteria and might be regarded as unregulated
  • The authors reported finding anthophyllite and cummingtonite together in the same rock, which they had found no previous published evidence of
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that elongate mineral particles do not have to be asbestiform to be toxic. They also concluded that the Staten Island ore closely resembles Finnish anthophyllite ore that other studies associated with excess lung cancer and mesothelioma, and should be assumed to be equally dangerous.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Fiber counts were not made in the light microscopy analysis
  • There have been no health-related investigations of the Staten Island mining activity

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Anthophyllite, Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Anthophyllite, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), HRTEM, Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma.

Related studies

• Malignant mesothelioma incidence among talc miners and millers in New York State — M.M. Finkelstein (2012)
• Pneumoconiosis and malignant mesothelioma in a family operated metal casting business that used industrial talc from New York state — M.M. Finkelstein (2013)
• Airborne fiber concentrations during splitting open and boxing bags of asbestos — N.A. Esmen, M. Corn (1998)
• Incidence of cancer among anthophyllite asbestos miners in Finland — L.O. Meurman, E. Pukkala, et al. (1994)
• Four cases of mesothelioma among Finnish anthophyllite miners — A. Karjalainen, L.O. Meurman, et al. (1994)
• Rat model demonstrates a high risk of tremolite but a low risk of anthophyllite for mesothelial carcinogenesis — D. Aierken, Y. Okazaki, et al. (2014)

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