Asbestos contamination in biota and abiota in the vicinity of asbestos-cement factory

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos contamination in biota and abiota in the vicinity of asbestos-cement factory, by M.S. Musthapa, I. Ahmad, A.K. Trivedi, et al (Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 2003).

The study

• Authors: M.S. Musthapa, I. Ahmad, A.K. Trivedi, Q. Rahman
• Journal: Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
• Published: 2003;70(6):1170-7
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This field study measured asbestos fibres around an asbestos-cement factory near Lucknow, India. The authors collected soil and earthworms at 0, 1, 2 and 5 km from the factory, plus water, sediment, snails and frogs from an adjacent pond. In soil, fibres per gram of dry weight fell with distance: 541 at 0 km, 67 at 1 km, 43 at 2 km and 29 at 5 km. Earthworm counts also fell, from 366 to 43 fibres per gram of dry weight. At 1 km, earthworms held 123 fibres per gram of dry weight against 67 in soil. The pond's south side, one of two sides beside the factory, had the most fibres in water (304 per litre) and sediment (420 per gram dry weight). Snails and frogs had the highest fibre counts in the rectum (112 and 189 per gram) and lowest in muscle (21 and 20). The authors concluded that concentrations fell with distance and that chrysotile fibres in the animals' organs reflected asbestos in their surroundings. They noted that how asbestos entered the snails is unclear.

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: Environmental field sampling study measuring asbestos fibres in soil, earthworms, pond water, pond sediment, snails and frogs at set distances from an asbestos-cement factory
• Who was studied: Soil and earthworms (P. posthuma) were collected at 0, 1, 2 and 5 km from an asbestos-cement factory at Mohanlalganj, about 25 km from Lucknow, U.P., India. Water, sediment, snails and frogs came from the one pond (about 1 ha) next to the factory. Snails were analysed in groups of 4-5. Results for snails and frogs are given as means over three groups. Sampling dates and exact animal numbers are not given in the available text.
• Exposure: Asbestos released from an asbestos-cement factory into the surrounding environment. The authors identify the fibres in pond water and sediment as chrysotile. Fibres were counted by phase contrast polarized microscopy and sorted by length (under 10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-50 and over 50 micrometres).
• Main results:
  • In soil, total fibres per gram dry weight were 541 at 0 km, 67 at 1 km, 43 at 2 km and 29 at 5 km. Fibre numbers fell with distance from the factory.
  • In earthworms, total fibres per gram dry weight were 366 at 0 km, 123 at 1 km, 89 at 2 km and 43 at 5 km. At 1 km, earthworms had 123 fibres per gram of dry weight, compared with 67 per gram of dry weight in soil. The authors described this as bioaccumulation.
  • In soil, short fibres (under 10 micrometres) made up a larger share at the 2 and 5 km sites than at 0-1 km. The authors suggested short fibres travel farther through air.
  • Pond water fibre counts were 304 (south), 298 (west), 287 (east) and 282 (north) per litre. Pond sediment counts were 420 (south), 404 (west), 399 (east) and 360 (north) per gram dry weight. The table column is headed fibres per L or per g dry weight. The authors note that the south and west sides both lie near the factory.
  • By length, most fibres in pond water fell in the 31-50 micrometre range, and most in pond sediment were over 50 micrometres.
  • Mean fibres per gram of snail organ were 112 in rectum, 76 in visceral spiral, 60 in buccal mass, 40 in foot and 21 in muscle.
  • Mean fibres per gram of frog organ were 189 in rectum, 72 in stomach plus duodenum, 69 in kidney, 28 in eye and 20 in muscle. As in snails, the rectum was highest and muscle lowest. The kidney also carried a considerable fibre burden.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that asbestos concentration decreased with increasing distance from the factory. They also concluded that the accumulation of chrysotile fibres in the organs of the animals studied was the consequence of the asbestos burden in their surroundings.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors state that the route by which asbestos entered the snails is not clearly understood.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos-Cement.

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