Using GIS to Estimate Population at Risk Because of Residence Proximity to Asbestos Processing Facilities in Colombia

Our plain-English summary of Using GIS to Estimate Population at Risk Because of Residence Proximity to Asbestos Processing Facilities in Colombia, by B. Lysaniuk, M.F. Cely-García, M. Giraldo, et al (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021).

The study

• Authors: B. Lysaniuk, M.F. Cely-García, M. Giraldo, J.M. Larrahondo, L.M. Serrano-Calderón, J.C. Guerrero-Bernal, L. Briceno-Ayala, E. Cruz Rodriguez, J.P. Ramos-Bonilla
• Journal: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Published: 2021;18(24)
• Cited by: 5 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

The recent enactment of the law banning asbestos in Colombia raises a significant number of challenges. The largest factories that have historically processed asbestos include five asbestos-cement facilities located in the cities of Sibaté (Cundinamarca), Cali (Valle del Cauca), and Barranquilla (Atlántico), and Manizales (Caldas), which has two, as well as a friction products facility in Bogotá D.C. An asbestos chrysotile mine has also operated in Colombia since 1980 in Campamento (Antioquia). In the framework of developing the National Asbestos Profile for Colombia, in this study, we estimated the population residing in the vicinity of asbestos processing plants or the mine and, therefore, potentially at risk of disease. Using a geographic information system, demographic data obtained from the last two general population censuses were processed to determine the number of people living within the concentric circles surrounding the asbestos facilities and the mine. In previous studies conducted in different countries of the world, an increased risk of asbestos-related diseases has been reported for people living at different distance bands from asbestos processing facilities. Based on these studies, circles of 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, and 10,000 m radii, centered on the asbestos processing facilities and the mine that operated in Colombia, were combined with the census data to estimate the number of people living within these radii. Large numbers of people were identified. It is estimated that in 2005, at the country level, 10,489 people lived within 500 m of an asbestos processing facility or mine. In 2018, and within a distance of 10,000 m, the number of people was 6,724,677. This information can aid public health surveillance strategies.

In plain English

This study, part of the work to build Colombia's National Asbestos Profile, used a geographic information system to estimate how many people lived near the country's main asbestos sites: five asbestos-cement plants, a friction products plant in Bogotá, and a chrysotile mine in Campamento. The authors took distance bands of 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10,000 m from studies elsewhere that reported higher mesothelioma risk at such distances, and combined them with the 2005 and 2018 censuses. In 2005, an estimated 10,489 people lived within 500 m of a site and 5,926,382 within 10 km. In 2018, 6,724,677 lived within 10 km. Around the mine, 2724 people (2005) and 8472 (2018) lived within 10 km. A national health database held 572 records of mesothelioma care in the six municipalities from 2015 to mid-2021, with none in Campamento. These were not necessarily new cases and could not give risk rates. No asbestos exposure measurements had been made near the Colombian sites. The authors called the work an estimation exercise and concluded that it supports mesothelioma registries and other surveillance in these regions.

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: Geographic information system (GIS) population-estimation study. Distance bands were taken from a literature review and overlaid on census data. The authors also consulted a national health database for mesothelioma care records.
• Who was studied: People recorded in the 2005 and 2018 Colombian general population censuses who lived around seven sites: six asbestos processing facilities and one mine. The facilities were in Sibaté, Barranquilla, Yumbo, Bogotá and Manizales (two plants); the mine was in Campamento.
• Exposure: Residential proximity to five asbestos-cement plants, one friction products plant and a chrysotile asbestos mine. Proximity was measured as circles of 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10,000 m radius. These distances came from other studies reporting increased mesothelioma risk at such distances; no exposure was measured in this study.
• Main results:
  • In 2005, an estimated 10,489 people lived within 500 m of an asbestos processing facility or the mine (all sites combined).
  • Within 10 km of the seven sites combined, an estimated 5,926,382 people lived there in 2005 and 6,724,677 in 2018, with no double counting of people near two plants.
  • Within 1000 m of all seven sites, the estimated population was 53,904 in 2005 and 59,459 in 2018.
  • Around the Campamento mine, 2724 people in 2005 and 8472 in 2018 lived within a 10 km radius.
  • For the 2005 census, the population within 10 km of a single processing facility ranged from 282,479 around Etex (Manizales) to 3,346,920 around Incolbest (Bogotá).
  • The SISPRO health database showed 572 registries of health services attending mesothelioma cases (pleural, peritoneal and pericardial) in the six municipalities between 1 January 2015 and 30 June 2021. For pleural mesothelioma, 350 people were attended in 356 visits.
  • No mesothelioma cases were observed in Campamento. The authors said this might reflect residence being improperly entered in the database, or the latency and rarity of the disease.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors described the analysis as an estimation exercise. They said risk estimates from other countries cannot be directly applied to Colombia. They concluded that the results reaffirm the importance of mesothelioma registries and other surveillance for asbestos-related diseases, especially in the regions where the plants or mine are located.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Where a census polygon was only partly inside a buffer, population was assigned by area. This assumes people are spread evenly across the polygon, which could cause small errors.
  • Some census areas had no demographic data, especially in 2005, so the population at risk may be underestimated.
  • Only two censuses (2005 and 2018) were used, although the asbestos industry began operating in 1942.
  • The analysis used concentric circles, but topography, local meteorology and prevailing winds affect how fibers disperse.
  • The distances came from studies in other parts of the world, and no asbestos exposure sampling campaigns had been conducted around the Colombian facilities or mine.
  • The SISPRO mesothelioma figures are not necessarily incident cases, so risk estimates such as age-adjusted incidence rates cannot be derived from them. Residence may also be improperly recorded in the database.

Topics

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

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos-Cement, Friction Products, Chrysotile.

Related studies

• An Approach to Overcome the Limitations of Surveillance of Asbestos Related Diseases in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: What We Learned from the Sibaté Study in Colombia — J.P. Ramos-Bonilla, M. Giraldo, et al. (2023)
• The challenges of applying an Activity-Based Sampling methodology to estimate the cancer risk associated with asbestos contaminated landfilled zones — M.F. Cely-García, B. Lysaniuk, et al. (2020)
• Where are the landfilled zones? Use of historical geographic information and local spatial knowledge to determine the location of underground asbestos contamination in Sibaté (Colombia) — B. Lysaniuk, M.F. Cely-García, et al. (2020)
• Airborne concentrations of chrysotile asbestos in serpentine quarries and stone processing facilities in Valmalenco, Italy — A. Cattaneo, A. Somigliana, et al. (2012)
• Occupational cohort study of current and former workers exposed to chrysotile in mine and processing facilities in Asbest, the Russian Federation: Cohort profile of the Asbest Chrysotile Cohort study — J. Schüz, I. Bukhtiyarov, et al. (2020)
• Residential proximity to naturally occurring asbestos and mesothelioma risk in California — X.L. Pan, H.W. Day, et al. (2005)

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