Asbestos reclamation at a disused industrial plant, Bagnoli (Naples, Italy)

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos reclamation at a disused industrial plant, Bagnoli (Naples, Italy), by G. Cecchetti, A. Fruttero, M.E. Conti (Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2005).

The study

• Authors: G. Cecchetti, A. Fruttero, M.E. Conti
• Journal: Journal of Hazardous Materials
• Published: 2005;122(1-2):65-73
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Asbestos reclamation works were carried out at a disused industrial plant (157,000 m(2)) in Bagnoli, a high population density area of Naples. The case-study here presented recommends a new reclamation procedure that is not usually provided for by current international standards. To this purpose, a specific innovative cleaning machine (Safecar) was built in order to control the reclamation procedures also in non-confined areas. An accurate identification was planned and worked out of the various types of materials (10,111 t) present within the area, and this allowed a thorough mapping of the site to be decontaminated. Besides these reclamation activities, which were carried out in both confined and open sites, each material was cleaned, collected and encapsulated following diversified procedures, according to their characteristics. Moreover, the evaluation of airborne asbestos fibre concentrations, both within and outside the decontaminated area, assured a strict respect of environmental safety level.

In plain English

This article was a case study of the asbestos clean-up of a disused plant that had made asbestos-cement pipes, slabs and joints. The site covered about 157,000 square metres in Bagnoli, Naples, Italy. The authors described a plan that kept sealed enclosures to a minimum and did much of the work in open areas, using a purpose-built mobile cleaning unit called the Safecar. In total, 10,111,757 kg of material was reclaimed. Air was monitored from January 1999 to February 2000. Before the work began, average background levels at five outside stations were 0.4 to 0.6 fibres per litre. During the work, outside levels rose until April 1999, with one station reaching a monthly mean of 2.0. They then levelled off at 0.7 to 0.8 fibres per litre by February 2000. Inside the plant, the overall mean was 1.54 fibres per litre (648 samples). Samples carried by workers, taken outside their masks, averaged 2.92 (415 samples), with a maximum value of 24 in November 1999. The authors concluded that the works were correctly conducted and that their results were largely below occupational limits such as 100 fibres per litre.

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: Descriptive case study of an asbestos reclamation (decontamination) project, with air monitoring around the site, inside the plant and on workers
• Who was studied: A disused asbestos-cement plant of about 157,000 square metres in Bagnoli, Naples, Italy, together with the workers doing the reclamation, monitored from January 1999 to February 2000. The number of workers is not given; 415 worker samples and 648 environmental samples were taken inside the plant.
• Exposure: Asbestos-containing materials from former asbestos-cement production (pipes, slabs, joints, roofing, panels, friable asbestos, dusts, contaminated soil) handled during removal works. Fiber types at the site are not specified.
• Main results:
  • Total weight of reclaimed materials was 10,111,757 kg.
  • Before the works, mean background concentrations at the five external stations (A to E) were 0.4 to 0.6 fibres/L, based on 30 days of sampling spread over the year.
  • During the works, external monthly means rose until April 1999 (highest was 2.0 ff/L at station E in March 1999). They then levelled off at 0.7 to 0.8 ff/L by February 2000, about the same as the pre-work values.
  • Inside the plant, the overall environmental mean was 1.54 ff/L (648 samples). The overall mean for workers' personal samples was 2.92 ff/L (415 samples).
  • Workers' samples were taken outside their respiratory masks.
  • In November 1999, the workers' monthly mean was 7.09 ± 24.05 ff/L (71 samples), with a maximum value of 24 ff/L. The authors stated this was below safety limits in many countries.
  • The authors compared their workplace results with occupational exposure limits in several countries (for example 100 ff/L in the European Community and the USA) and found them largely below these limits.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the decontamination works were correctly conducted. They also concluded that monitoring around the area and of workers and yards allowed them to control fibre dispersion and work according to the necessary safety requirements.

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