Monitoring and Simulating Environmental Asbestos Dispersion from a Textile Factory

Our plain-English summary of Monitoring and Simulating Environmental Asbestos Dispersion from a Textile Factory, by D. Kang, Y. Hwang, Y. Choi, et al (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2018).

The study

• Authors: D. Kang, Y. Hwang, Y. Choi, S.Y. Kim, Y.K. Kim
• Journal: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Published: 2018;15(7)
• Cited by: 7 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Although workplace asbestos concentrations (AC) have been reported several times, the past environmental AC are relatively poorly studied. Due to the harmful effects of the asbestos industry, production has moved from early industrialized countries (Japan), to late industrialized countries (Korea), and finally to industrializing countries (Indonesia). The purpose of this study was to determine current occupational exposure levels and evaluate neighborhood environmental exposure levels in an Indonesian asbestos textile factory through collaboration among three generation of industrialized countries. Asbestos concentrations were measured inside and outside of the factory and compared with simulated data. ACs in the factory were similar to those of 1980s and 1990s levels in the Korean factory that transferred the machines. Environmental ACs were dispersed according to wind direction. There were no significant differences between monitored and simulated data, and correlation coefficients between downwind, upwind, and middle wind directions were high, with some statistical significance. This study can be used to estimate past environmental ACs to understand the causality of asbestos related diseases. Because of the small sample size and specific weather conditions, a large-scale study of various asbestos exposure sources, including asbestos cement factories, shipyards, and mines, and various atmospheric conditions is required.

In plain English

This study measured airborne asbestos inside and around an asbestos textile factory in Cibinong, Indonesia, from 26 to 28 August 2008. It compared the outdoor measurements with estimates from a computer air-dispersion model (AERMOD). The factory used chrysotile and ran machines transferred from a Korean factory. One worker was sampled per process. Those personal samples ranged from 3.1 fibers per cubic centimeter (f/cc) in weaving to 8.6 f/cc in mixing, with a mean of 6.1 f/cc. All were above Indonesia's limit at the time of 2.0 f/cc. One area sample in the middle of the factory measured 2.4 f/cc. Comparing these with earlier published measurements from the Korean factory, the authors judged them similar to its 1980s levels. Outdoors, asbestos spread according to wind direction. Across 17 outdoor points, measured and modeled levels did not differ significantly. Only the downwind points showed a statistically significant correlation. The authors concluded the approach can help estimate past environmental exposure. They noted that each site was sampled once, the microscope method may overcount fibers, and only chrysotile in the dry season was studied.

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 air-monitoring study inside and outside one factory, with comparison of the outdoor measurements to AERMOD dispersion-model simulations
• Who was studied: The Indonesian asbestos textile factory 'T' in Cibinong, Indonesia, sampled 26 to 28 August 2008. Personal samples came from one worker in each of five production processes (21 workers per shift, three shifts). Outdoor samples came from 17 sites at different directions and distances from the factory.
• Exposure: Chrysotile asbestos used in textile production (mixing, carding, spinning, twisting, weaving), with machines transferred from the Korean factory J. The factory used 612 kg of chrysotile per day and 18 t of raw material per month (85% asbestos).
• Main results:
  • Personal sampling (one worker per process) gave 8.6 f/cc in mixing, 7.3 in carding, 7.5 in spinning, 3.9 in twisting and 3.1 in weaving.
  • The mean of the personal samples was 6.1 f/cc (SD 2.4).
  • The single area sample in the middle of the factory was 2.4 f/cc.
  • All personal samples exceeded Indonesia's occupational exposure limit at the time, 2.0 f/cc.
  • Compared with previously published measurements from the Korean J factory, the Indonesian factory's concentrations were slightly higher than Korean 1980s levels and much higher than Korean 1990s levels.
  • Workers at first wore no masks, and afterwards wore cotton masks that did not protect them from the dust.
  • Outdoor asbestos was dispersed from the factory according to wind direction.
  • The highest outdoor monitored concentration was reported 5 m south of the factory, at 0.1245 f/cc. Table 2 lists a maximum of 0.15460 f/cc instead.
  • Across the 17 outdoor sites, the mean was 0.01587 f/cc (SD 0.03919) measured and 0.00979 f/cc (SD 0.01913) simulated. The difference was not statistically significant (Wilcoxon p = 0.266 in Table 2).
  • By the nonparametric (Spearman) test, only the downwind sites (N = 4) showed a statistically significant correlation between measured and simulated values (Rs = 1.00, p less than 0.001). The middle wind (Rs = 0.84), upwind (Rs = 0.80) and total (Rs = 0.40) correlations were not statistically significant.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that working conditions and workplace asbestos concentrations in the Indonesian plant were similar to those of the Korean factory that exported the machines. They also concluded that outdoor asbestos dispersed according to wind direction, and that the work can help estimate past environmental exposure. They called for larger studies of other sources and weather conditions.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Each sampling site was checked only once, so a mean and standard deviation could not be calculated per site.
  • Phase contrast microscopy can count non-asbestos fibers, leading to overestimation.
  • Only chrysotile was studied; other fiber types differ in toxicity and dispersion.
  • The lack of significant differences between measured and modeled values might reflect the small sample size.
  • The significant Pearson correlations could be driven by a few very high concentrations.
  • The study took place in the dry season, with lower wind speed, and may not represent the whole year.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Occupational Exposure, Environmental Exposure, Statistical Significance, Asbestos Exposure, Asbestos-Cement.

Related studies

• Relationship of mortality to measures of environmental asbestos pollution in an asbestos textile factory — J. Peto, R. Doll, et al. (1985)
• Comparing milled fiber, Quebec ore, and textile factory dust: has another piece of the asbestos puzzle fallen into place? — D.W. Berman (2010)
• Asbestos hazard evaluation in South Korean textile production — E. Johanning, M. Goldberg, et al. (1994)
• The contribution of environmental monitoring in the epidemiological assessment of exogenous risk. The experience of ARPA in the Emilia-Romagna Region of Italy — A. Zavatti, P. Lauriola (1999)
• Occupational cancer of the urinary bladder in dyestuffs operatives and of the lung in asbestos textile workers and iron-ore miners — G.M. Bonser, J.S. Faulds, et al. (1955)
• Updated mortality study of a cohort of asbestos textile workers — E. Pira, C. Romano, et al. (2016)

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