Examining the Environmental Ramifications of Asbestos Fiber Movement Through the Water-Soil Continuum: A Review

Our plain-English summary of Examining the Environmental Ramifications of Asbestos Fiber Movement Through the Water-Soil Continuum: A Review, by G.Z. Macher, A. Torma, D. Beke (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2025).

The study

• Authors: G.Z. Macher, A. Torma, D. Beke
• Journal: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Published: 2025;22(4)
• Type of article: Systematic review
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

The environmental pollution potential of asbestos products is a worldwide health issue, but their dissemination through the water-soil continuum is often an overlooked aspect. Similarly, the behavior of asbestos fibers released from the products is still not fully understood, although our knowledge is based on studies concerning their mineralogical characteristics, health effects, and waste disposal. It has been claimed and contradicted that asbestos harm is only found in air and humans. Asbestos fibers are found not only in industrial settings but also through the industrial use of asbestos cement products, which has contributed to asbestos emissions and its movement in water and soil. Asbestos fibers are diverse in their physicochemical properties, and this diversity has a significant influence on their behavior in the environment. Recent research has confirmed that asbestos can be transported by water and spread to other parts of the environment. However, the mechanisms underlying this, such as the settling of fibers, their attachment to soil particles, or their movement in groundwater, as well as the environmental and health implications, require further investigation. This paper examines the process and impact of asbestos contamination in the interconnected water, soil, and plant environmental sectors, providing a systematic review of the latest literature.

In plain English

This article was a review of published research, not a new study. The authors, from Széchenyi István University in Hungary, reviewed work on how asbestos fibers move through water, soil and plants. The text does not describe how studies were searched for or chosen. The review relied on other researchers' reports. These included that over 90% of global asbestos use went into asbestos cement sheets and pipes, and that an earlier study found weathered asbestos cement sheets corrode at about 0.01 to 0.024 mm per year. One study near an asbestos mine (Caramuscio and colleagues) reported asbestos levels of 1.00 to 3.60 mg/L in stream water and 1.00 to 4.10 mg/L in groundwater. The authors noted that an older assumption, that soil filters fibers out, has been challenged by reports of asbestos in deep underground aquifers. They also noted that European Union rules set no limit for asbestos in drinking water, that standardized methods for measuring asbestos in water and soil are lacking, and that uptake by plants is largely unexplored. The authors concluded that air, soil and water should be studied together as connected pathways.

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: Review of published literature. The authors call it a systematic review, but the text describes no search or selection methods.
• Who was studied: Published studies and reports on asbestos in water, soil and plants. The number of studies reviewed is not stated.
• Exposure: Asbestos fibers (chrysotile and the amphiboles actinolite, crocidolite, anthophyllite, grunerite and tremolite) released from asbestos cement products, naturally occurring asbestos, mining and waste, as they move through soil and water
• Main results:
  • Citing other sources, the review stated that over 90% of global asbestos use went into asbestos cement sheets and pipes
  • Citing an earlier study, the review reported that the surface of asbestos cement sheets corrodes through weathering at about 0.01 to 0.024 mm per year
  • The review reported that Caramuscio et al. found asbestos levels of 1.00 to 3.60 mg/L in stream water near an asbestos mine and 1.00 to 4.10 mg/L in groundwater
  • The earlier assumption that exposure through water or soil was negligible, because soil filters fibers out, has been challenged by studies reporting asbestos fibers in deep underground aquifers
  • European Union water quality rules set no limit or guideline values for asbestos in drinking water
  • Research on whether asbestos fibers build up in plants and pass up the food chain is lacking
  • Standardized analytical methods for assessing asbestos contamination in water and soil are lacking
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that asbestos-related environmental hazards need to be rethought, with air, soil and water examined together through integrated, multidisciplinary investigations
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors noted that the underlying research is still largely experimental, and that groundwater studies in particular remain at an experimental stage
  • The authors noted that the methods used to assess asbestos in water are rudimentary and borrowed from air-quality assessment

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos-Cement, Systematic Review.

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