Abstract
The following paper presents an assessment of health risks associated with air polluted with respirable asbestos fibers in towns of southwest Poland. The aim of the work was to determine whether or not any prevention measures are necessary in order to reduce the level of exposure to the pollutant. The risk assessment was carried out based on the air analyses and the latest asbestos toxicity data published by the Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), USA and Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). It was found that in some sites, the concentration of the asbestos fibers exceeded the acceptable levels, which should be a reason of special concern. The highest concentration of asbestos was found in town centers during the rush hours. In three spots, the calculated maximum health risk exceeded 1E-04 which is considered too high according to the adopted standards. So far, it has not yet been possible to find a reasonable method of ensuring the hazard reduction.
Highlights
Asbestos is a common name that applies to minerals derived from the group of serpentines and amphiboles composing hydrated calcium, magnesium, and sodium silicates
The health risk assessment was based on the measurements of asbestos fibers concentration and asbestos toxicity data
The exposure to asbestos airborne fibers depends on their concentration, the population age, and the applied exposure scenario
Summary
Asbestos is a common name that applies to minerals derived from the group of serpentines and amphiboles composing hydrated calcium, magnesium, and sodium silicates. In the early years of the past century, asbestos found application in over one thousand production technologies and in about three thousand products. It was used in the manufacture of textile products, yarn, rope, sealing, and abrasive products such as brake blocks, in hydroinsulation, the floor tiles, as the filtration aid in brewing, etc. (Trefler et al 2004) It was mostly used in the building industry in the form of asbestos–cement roofing, the so-called eternit, asbestos–cement boards, pipes, and other products. During the period of several years of the product application in Poland, about 14.5 million tons of asbestos and asbestos containing materials was accumulated (Programme 2010)
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