Environmental Assessment of Friable Asbestos from Soil to Air Using the Releasable Asbestos Sampler (RAS)

Our plain-English summary of Environmental Assessment of Friable Asbestos from Soil to Air Using the Releasable Asbestos Sampler (RAS), by P.T. Maulida, J.W. Kim, M.C. Jung (Toxics, 2022).

The study

• Authors: P.T. Maulida, J.W. Kim, M.C. Jung
• Journal: Toxics
• Published: 2022;10(12)
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to examine the feasibility of the releasable asbestos sampler (RAS) equipment for laboratory tests as an alternative to activity-based sampling (ABS), and to apply the equipment controlled by wind velocity and water contents in the field to asbestos-contaminated soils. Two asbestos-contaminated mines (the Jecheon mine and the Jongmin-ri mine) were selected. At each mine, 21 surface soils (0~15 cm) were sampled, the asbestos concentrations were analyzed, and then three representative sites, containing 0.25%, 0.50%, and 0.75% of asbestos in soils, were chosen to evaluate the amount of releasable asbestos by the modified RAS with wind velocity and water contents. The results showed that the levels of releasable asbestos from soil to air increased with higher wind velocities and lower water content. In addition, the application of risk assessment of releasable asbestos in the soils as an alternative to the activity-based sampling (ABS) method was established at each site, and an estimation of the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) was also calculated. According to the calculation, the estimated ELCR values did not exceed the threshold value (1 × 10-4) in the Jecheon mine for all the soils, while some samples from the Jongmin-ri mine exceeded the threshold value. Therefore, proper remediation work is needed to control friable asbestos from soils to air in the vicinity of the mines.

In plain English

The authors tested a modified 'releasable asbestos sampler' (RAS), a box blowing air across soil and collecting released fibers. They examined its feasibility as an alternative to activity-based sampling, which measures air during activities such as weeding and digging. Twenty-one surface soils were sampled at each of two abandoned South Korean asbestos mines, Jecheon and Jongmin-ri; the asbestos was fibrous tremolite. Soils with 0.25%, 0.50% and 0.75% asbestos were tested at wind speeds up to 5 m/s and water contents of 10 to 20% or 20 to 30%. Stronger wind and drier soil released more asbestos. At equal wind speeds, drier soils gave two to five times higher levels. The three soils' maximum air levels were 0.013 to 0.031 fibers per cc at Jecheon and 0.023 to 0.471 at Jongmin-ri. At Jecheon, all estimated excess lifetime cancer risks for weeding and digging were below 1 in 10,000. At Jongmin-ri, some estimates for soils with 0.50% and 0.75% asbestos exceeded it under some tested conditions. The authors concluded the device could serve as an alternative to activity-based sampling and recommended remediating Jongmin-ri.

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: Field and laboratory environmental study. The authors tested a modified releasable asbestos sampler on mine-area soils to examine its feasibility as an alternative to activity-based sampling of weeding and digging, and calculated excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR). No direct comparison with activity-based samples is reported.
• Who was studied: Surface soils (0 to 15 cm deep) from two abandoned asbestos mines in Chungbuk, South Korea. Twenty-one samples were taken at each mine: within 1.5 km of the Jecheon mine and within 1.0 km of the Jongmin-ri mine. At each mine, three representative soils containing 0.25%, 0.50% and 0.75% asbestos were tested. Exposure times for the risk estimates came from questioning farmers living near the mines.
• Exposure: Asbestos released into the air from soils containing 0.25%, 0.50% and 0.75% asbestos. Wind velocities tested were 0, 1, 2, 3 and 5 m/s, and soil water contents were 10 to 20% and 20 to 30%. The risk scenarios were weeding and digging on farmland.
• Main results:
  • The asbestos in soils from both mines was fibrous tremolite.
  • Jecheon mine, soil with 0.25% asbestos: the maximum released level was 0.013 f/cc, at 10 to 20% water content and 5 m/s wind.
  • Jecheon mine, soil with 0.50% asbestos: the maximum was 0.018 f/cc, at 10 to 20% water content and 5 m/s wind.
  • Jecheon mine: a further maximum of 0.031 f/cc was reported. The text labels this soil as 0.25% asbestos, apparently in error.
  • Jongmin-ri mine, soil with 0.25% asbestos: the maximum was 0.023 f/cc, at 10 to 20% water content and 5 m/s wind.
  • Jongmin-ri mine, soil with 0.50% asbestos: the maximum was 0.400 f/cc, at 10 to 20% water content and 5 m/s wind.
  • Jongmin-ri mine, soil with 0.75% asbestos: the maximum was 0.471 f/cc, at 10 to 20% water content and 5 m/s wind.
  • At both mines, releasable asbestos increased with higher wind velocity and lower soil water content.
  • At the same wind velocity, soils with 10 to 20% water content gave two to five times higher air concentrations than soils with 20 to 30% water content.
  • Jecheon mine: all estimated ELCR values were below the threshold of 1 in 10,000 (1 × 10 to the minus 4).
  • Jongmin-ri mine: several, not all, of the estimated ELCR values were over the threshold. The conclusions place the exceedances in soils containing 0.50% and 0.75% asbestos, and the authors link them to high wind velocity.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the modified RAS can be used as a quicker and cheaper alternative to activity-based sampling for asbestos risk assessment in soils. They strongly recommended remediation of the Jongmin-ri mine area.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Friable.

Related studies

• Development of the releasable asbestos field sampler — J.R. Kominsky, J.W. Thornburg, et al. (2010)
• Risk assessment and source analysis of heavy metals in soil around an asbestos mine in an arid plateau region, China — X. Li, D. Ding, et al. (2024)
• Comparison of soil sampling and analytical methods for asbestos at the Sumas Mountain Asbestos Site-Working towards a toolbox for better assessment — J. Wroble, T. Frederick, et al. (2017)
• Exposure of UK industrial plumbers to asbestos, Part I: Monitoring of exposure using personal passive samplers — G. Burdett, D. Bard (2007)
• A novel decomposition technique of friable asbestos by CHClF2-decomposed acidic gas — K. Yanagisawa, T. Kozawa, et al. (2009)
• Asbestos exposure and radiological abnormalities among maintenance and custodian workers in buildings with friable asbestos-containing materials — M. Matrat, J.C. Pairon, et al. (2004)

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