Levels of asbestos air pollution in some environmental situations

Our plain-English summary of Levels of asbestos air pollution in some environmental situations, by P. Sebastien, M.A. Billon, G. Dufour, et al (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1979).

The study

• Authors: P. Sebastien, M.A. Billon, G. Dufour, A. Gaudichet, G. Bonnaud, J. Bignon
• Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
• Published: 1979;330:401-15
• Cited by: 7 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 004382).

Abstract

Asbestos contamination of the outside aid in Paris and suburbs has been monitored in some environmental situations, namely, "typical" urban sites removed from known sources of asbestos emissions, crossroad locations, the vicinity of a freeway, areas with buildings under construction, and areas around asbestos factories. In the same manner, measurements have been performed inside buildings of various types: those sprayed with asbestos-containing materials, those fitted with asbestos products, and control buildings. Air has been sampled by use of 0.45 micrometer pore size Millipore filters. After low-temperature ashing, ultrasonicated ashes were transferred to carbon film on 200-mesh gold grids examined under an analytic transmission electron microscope. Levels of pollution were expressed in terms of gravimetric concentrations. Inside buildings, when the air was in contact with significant amounts of asbestos-containing materials (spray, sheets), the levels were in the range 0.1--1000 10(-9) g m-3. In the vicinities of asbestos plants, the concentrations were higher: 1000--3000 10(-9) g m-3. Under other circumstances, the levels were of the same order of magnitude: 99% of the values were below 7 X 10(-9) g m-3. The Conseil Supérieur d'Hygiène Publique de France proposed a numerical ambient air quality standard of 50 X 10(-9) g m-3 inside buildings sprayed with asbestos.

In plain English

This was an air-monitoring survey in France. Airborne asbestos was measured with a transmission electron microscope and reported as nanograms per cubic meter of air (ng/m³). Outdoors in Paris and its suburbs, monitored from 1974, chrysotile was present in every sample and 99% of concentrations were below 7 ng/m³. Mean levels at crossroads (0.9 ng/m³) and near a freeway (0.2 ng/m³) did not differ significantly from typical urban sites (0.6 ng/m³). Areas with buildings under construction were significantly higher (1.8 ng/m³). In air sampled downwind of two industrial users of asbestos, levels were 1000-3000 ng/m³. Inside 33 buildings sprayed with asbestos-containing materials, chrysotile was found in every building and amphibole fibers in 12. In 23 of these buildings at least one sample exceeded 7 ng/m³, and nine showed concentrations above 50 ng/m³. Pollution was associated with spray that people could touch, visible spray damage and human activity. In ten control buildings, only chrysotile fibers were found in the air, at a mean of 1.8 ng/m³, significantly above outdoor background. The authors concluded that knowing a building's configuration could not predict its levels, so actual measurements were needed.

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: Environmental air-monitoring survey (outdoor and indoor air sampling with transmission electron microscope analysis)
• Who was studied: Air in France. Outdoor air came from an eight-site network in Paris and its suburbs, sampled each year since 1974, plus two areas near industrial asbestos users (a small factory cutting asbestos sheets in a Paris suburb, and 0.5 mile from a large asbestos plant in Normandy). Indoor air came from 160 samples in 33 buildings sprayed with asbestos-containing materials, from two buildings with asbestos insulation boards, and from 10 control buildings.
• Exposure: Airborne asbestos, mainly chrysotile, with amphibole fibers (including crocidolite near one factory). Sources studied were urban background air, traffic, construction areas, factories, sprayed asbestos coatings, and asbestos insulation boards and sheets. Results were expressed as mass concentrations in nanograms per cubic meter of air (ng/m³).
• Main results:
  • Outdoors in Paris and suburbs, chrysotile was present in every sample, widespread amphibole pollution was not observed, and 99% of concentrations were below 7 ng/m³.
  • Outdoor mean levels at crossroads (0.9 ng/m³) and near a freeway (0.2 ng/m³) did not differ significantly from typical urban sites (0.6 ng/m³). Areas with buildings under construction had a significantly higher mean (1.8 ng/m³, p less than 0.001).
  • In air sampled downwind of the two industrial users, levels were 1000-3000 ng/m³. Near the Paris-suburb factory, half was attributed to crocidolite and the rest to chrysotile. Near the Normandy factory, the fibers were mostly chrysotile.
  • In the 33 sprayed buildings, chrysotile was found in every building and amphibole fibers in 12. A building counted as 'polluted' if at least one sample exceeded 7 ng/m³. 23 of the 33 were polluted, and nine showed concentrations greater than 50 ng/m³.
  • All buildings where the sprayed asbestos was accessible to human contact were polluted, compared with 58% of buildings with inaccessible spray. 11 of 12 buildings with visible spray degradation were polluted, and so were 11 of 21 with no visible degradation.
  • Polluted situations were always associated with physical activity. In paired measurements of rooms without and with human activity, levels were 15 versus 750 ng/m³ and 3 versus 630 ng/m³.
  • In a public library, levels were similar (100 ng/m³) 1 and 2 months after asbestos insulation boards were fitted.
  • In the 10 control buildings, only chrysotile fibers were found in the air. Only one building had a level above 7 ng/m³. Their mean (1.8 ng/m³) was significantly higher than the outdoor background level in Paris.
  • The study did not show significantly higher concentrations at sites where considerable braking occurs.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that Paris and its suburbs have a background level of chrysotile air pollution, with small variation over time and place. They found that knowledge of a building's configuration could not predict its indoor levels, so actual measurements are needed. Based on these results, the Conseil Supérieur d'Hygiène Publique de France proposed an indoor air standard of 50 ng/m³ inside buildings sprayed with asbestos-containing materials.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Variation of pollution in space and time around the factory sources was not studied; air was sampled only downwind of them.
  • Because there were few sampling sites near factories, the data do not give an overall picture of this type of pollution in France.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos-Containing Material (ACM), Low-Temperature Ashing.

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