Community responses to naturally occurring asbestos: implications for public health practice

Our plain-English summary of Community responses to naturally occurring asbestos: implications for public health practice, by M.R. Culley, J. Zorland, K. Freire (Health Education Research, 2010).

The study

• Authors: M.R. Culley, J. Zorland, K. Freire
• Journal: Health Education Research
• Published: 2010;25(5):877-91
• Cited by: 5 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

We used a qualitative community case study design to examine stakeholder responses to naturally occurring asbestos (NOA), a newly emerging environmental threat. The community of interest represents the first residential setting in the United States to receive substantial federal, state and local regulatory attention where NOA exposures largely resulted from local development. Because NOA is an emerging problem that will require evidence-based public health responses in the United States and elsewhere, we explored stakeholder responses to NOA and examined how these responses fit with what is known about individual, community and institutional responses to environmental hazards. The convergence of findings from multiple data sources, including interviews with stakeholder groups and documents, revealed a myriad of challenges associated with environmental and public health interventions in this community. What unfolded was consistent with the social sciences literature about communities facing similar hazards. 'Natural' and 'human-made' elements, the toxic nature of the threat and inadequate institutional responses to the threat combined to spark community conflict and other significant challenges. Implications for improved public health practice are discussed.

In plain English

This qualitative community case study examined how people closely involved with naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) in El Dorado Hills, California, experienced the official response to it. At a local high school, building a soccer field had disturbed a vein of NOA containing 90% amphibole asbestos. The authors interviewed 18 people: 11 federal and state government employees and 7 citizen activists. County officials did not take part, so the authors also reviewed documents. All 18 interviewees described problems with assessing and communicating NOA risk. Seventeen described agencies passing responsibility to one another, which the authors called a 'Hot Potato' effect. Seventeen described a lack of clear or adequate regulation, 17 described resistance to the issue, and 17 described community conflict. Interviewees saw local officials' resistance as the most prominent kind. Documents showed county officials disputing state and federal agencies' science using a report from an asbestos industry consulting firm. The authors concluded that NOA is an emerging environmental hazard that falls through regulatory 'cracks'.

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: Qualitative community case study combining semistructured interviews with document review
• Who was studied: 18 stakeholders extensively involved in the NOA issue in El Dorado Hills, California (11 federal and state government employees and 7 citizen activists); 38 people from four stakeholder groups were identified and recruited; the broader public was not recruited
• Exposure: The study did not measure exposure. It studied responses to naturally occurring asbestos disturbed by local development, including a vein of NOA containing 90% amphibole asbestos disturbed during construction of a high school soccer field
• Main results:
  • All interviewees (18 of 18) cited challenges with NOA risk assessment and risk communication
  • 17 of 18 participants (11 of 11 government employees, 6 of 7 citizens) described responsibility for or authority over NOA being passed from one agency to another (the 'Hot Potato' effect)
  • 17 of 18 participants (10 government employees, 7 citizens) described a lack of clear or adequate regulatory framework to address NOA
  • 17 participants (including 7 citizens) noted resistance to acknowledging or addressing NOA
  • Among forms of resistance, local officials' resistance (particularly school officials and the county Board of Supervisors) was the most salient
  • 17 participants (including 6 citizens) noted community conflict challenges
  • Documents showed county officials publicly questioning the scientific merit of state and federal agencies' sampling and risk assessments, using an asbestos industry consulting firm report
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that they had shown a pattern of experiences among people facing an emerging environmental hazard that falls through regulatory 'cracks'
• Limitations the authors state:
  • No county officials and only some state agencies took part in interviews; documents were used to help fill these gaps

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Chrysotile.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: naturally occurring asbestos (NOA).

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