Asbestiform Minerals: Worker Exposure and Risk Assessment in Some Contaminated Australian Mines

Abstract

Abstract Commercial forms of asbestos are no longer mined in Australia; however, the presence of widespread contaminate asbestiform minerals has recently emerged as an occupational health issue in various mining areas. Strict laws exist nationally in regard to asbestos control, including a prohibition on the use of crocidolite and amosite, and in some states this is extended to cover other amphibole types such as tremo-lite and anthophyllite. A study has commenced in collaboration with mining authorities, mine operators, and the workforce to cover the nickel-and gold-mining areas of Western Australia, an iron ore (taconite) mine in Tasmania, and mine and highway construction sites located in a serpentine belt in New South Wales. Exposure to regulatory fibers is generally below the occupational exposure standard (1 f/mL chrysotile, 0.1 f/mL amphibole), with a high proportion of fibers below the practical detection limit of the monitoring method (<0.05 f/mL), although elevated exposures occur in high-dust o...