Trace elements in hazardous mineral fibres

Our plain-English summary of Trace elements in hazardous mineral fibres, by A. Bloise, D. Barca, A.F. Gualtieri, et al (Environmental Pollution, 2016).

The study

• Authors: A. Bloise, D. Barca, A.F. Gualtieri, S. Pollastri, E. Belluso
• Journal: Environmental Pollution
• Published: 2016;216:314-323
• Cited by: 32 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Both occupational and environmental exposure to asbestos-mineral fibres can be associated with lung diseases. The pathogenic effects are related to the dimension, biopersistence and chemical composition of the fibres. In addition to the major mineral elements, mineral fibres contain trace elements and their content may play a role in fibre toxicity. To shed light on the role of trace elements in asbestos carcinogenesis, knowledge on their concentration in asbestos-mineral fibres is mandatory. It is possible that trace elements play a synergetic factor in the pathogenesis of diseases caused by the inhalation of mineral fibres. In this paper, the concentration levels of trace elements from three chrysotile samples, four amphibole asbestos samples (UICC amosite, UICC anthophyllite, UICC crocidolite and tremolite) and fibrous erionite from Jersey, Nevada (USA) were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). For all samples, the following trace elements were measured: Li, Be, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Y, Sb, Cs, Ba, La, Pb, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Th, U. Their distribution in the various mineral species is thoroughly discussed. The obtained results indicate that the amount of trace metals such as Mn, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn is higher in anthophyllite and chrysotile samples, whereas the amount of rare earth elements (REE) is higher in erionite and tremolite samples. The results of this work can be useful to the pathologists and biochemists who use asbestos minerals and fibrous erionite in-vitro studies as positive cyto- and geno-toxic standard references.

Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In plain English

This was a laboratory chemical analysis of mineral samples. It was not a study of people or animals. The authors used a technique called inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to measure trace elements in eight mineral fibre samples. The elements included chromium, manganese, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, arsenic, lead, beryllium and the rare earth elements. The samples were three chrysotile samples (the UICC standard from Quebec, Canada, and samples from Balangero and Valmalenco, Italy), UICC amosite, UICC anthophyllite, UICC crocidolite, tremolite from Val d'Ala, Italy, and fibrous erionite from Jersey, Nevada. Overall, anthophyllite contained the most trace metals, followed by Balangero and then Valmalenco chrysotile. Valmalenco chrysotile had more than 1000 ppm nickel and 52.40 ppm cobalt. Balangero chrysotile had more than 1000 ppm chromium. Erionite had the most rare earth elements and the most arsenic (44.5 ppm). The authors noted that small impurities could not be fully removed and might contribute to the results. The authors concluded that, because chrysotile is less bio-persistent in the lungs, trace metals might be released quickly. If so, they wrote, chrysotile's potential toxicity should be reconsidered.

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: Laboratory chemical analysis of mineral fibre samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS); no human or animal subjects
• Who was studied: Eight mineral fibre samples: three chrysotile samples from different deposits (UICC standard chrysotile from Quebec, Canada; Balangero, Turin, Italy; Valmalenco, Sondrio, Italy), UICC amosite (Penge mine, South Africa), UICC anthophyllite (Paakkila mine, Finland), UICC crocidolite (Koegas Mine, South Africa), fibrous tremolite (Val d'Ala, Turin, Italy) and fibrous erionite (Jersey, Nevada, USA)
• Exposure: No human exposure was studied. The materials analysed were chrysotile, four amphibole asbestos types (amosite, anthophyllite, crocidolite, tremolite) and fibrous erionite, each measured for trace elements including Li, Be, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Y, Sb, Cs, Ba, Pb, Th, U and the rare earth elements
• Main results:
  • Overall, anthophyllite contained the greatest amounts of trace metals (Mn, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn), followed by Balangero and then Valmalenco chrysotile
  • Chrysotile from Valmalenco had the highest nickel (more than 1000 ppm) and cobalt (52.40 ppm)
  • Chromium was highest in chrysotile from Balangero (more than 1000 ppm) and in anthophyllite (818 ppm)
  • Manganese was highest in amosite, followed by anthophyllite and tremolite
  • Zinc did not vary much among samples, except in anthophyllite, which had the highest amount (209 ppm)
  • All samples except erionite and tremolite had total rare earth element concentrations below 20 ppm. Cerium was highest in erionite (192.9 ppm)
  • Erionite had the highest arsenic (44.5 ppm)
  • Erionite had the highest lead (25.22 ppm). Lead ranged from 0.45 ppm in tremolite to 25.22 ppm in erionite
  • Beryllium was notable in fibrous erionite (1.22 ppm) and crocidolite (0.55 ppm)
  • When Italian soil thresholds were applied to the minerals, Cr, Co and Ni exceeded the threshold in all three Italian samples
  • Metal values for UICC chrysotile and UICC anthophyllite fell within the ranges previously reported by other laboratories
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, because chrysotile is less bio-persistent in the lungs, the possibility that its trace metals are quickly released should be considered. If this prediction is correct, they wrote, the potential toxicity of chrysotile asbestos should be reconsidered.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Micro- and nano-sized mineral impurities could not be completely removed by hand, so a small contribution from them to the measured composition cannot be excluded
  • The method cannot tell trace elements in the fibres apart from trace elements in impurities
  • Cobalt and nickel values for amosite were slightly lower than published values, possibly because of differences in samples or analytical conditions
  • The toxicity of major elements (such as iron) was outside the scope of the paper

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Anthophyllite, Tremolite.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Environmental Exposure, biopersistence, Carcinogenesis, Chrysotile, Amphibole Asbestos, UICC, Amosite, Anthophyllite.

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