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Asbestos-related pleural disease
Published in Dorsett D. Smith, The Health Effects of Asbestos, 2015
Investigators from Thessaloniki, Greece, studied 266 out of the total 317 employees who had worked in an asbestos cement factory during the period 1968–2004, with chest x-ray, HRCT, and lung function tests. Abnormal HRCT findings were found in 75 subjects (67%) and were related to age, occupational exposure duration, and spirometric data. The presence of parenchymal or visceral pleural lesions (exclusively or as the predominant abnormality) was accompanied by lower total lung capacity and diffusion capacity. HRCT was much more sensitive than chest x-ray for occupational chrysotile exposure. Lung function impairment was related to parenchymal but not to pleural HRCT abnormalities. (Spyratos D, Chloros D, Haidich B et al. Chest imaging and lung function impairment after long-term occupational exposure to low concentrations of chrysotile. Arch Environ Occup Health 2012;67(2):84–90.)
Metals, Their Biological Functions and Harmful Impacts
Published in Karlheinz Spitz, John Trudinger, Mining and the Environment, 2019
Karlheinz Spitz, John Trudinger
Today, only one type of asbestos is used: chrysotile. In addition, the industry now only markets dense and non-friable materials in which the chrysotile fibre is encapsulated in a matrix of either cement or resin. These modern products include chrysotile-cement building materials, friction materials, gaskets and certain plastics. Ninety percent of the world production of chrysotile, however, is used in the manufacture of chrysotile-cement, in the form of pipes, sheets and shingles.
Materials
Published in Sumit Sharma, Composite Materials, 2021
The most common use of asbestos fibers has been in corrugated asbestos cement roof sheets typically used for outbuildings, warehouses, and garages. It may also be found in sheets or panels used for ceilings and sometimes for walls and floors. Chrysotile has been a component in joint compound and some plasters. Numerous other items have been made containing chrysotile, including brake linings, fire barriers in fuse boxes, pipe insulation, floor tiles, and gaskets for high-temperature equipment.
Comparison of melt-blown and glass-fiber HEPA asbestos filters based on ISO filter classes, filtration efficiency, power consumption, and face velocity
Published in Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 2022
Sung Ho Hwang, Byong Hyoek Lee
Asbestos has been used since ancient times owing to its affordability and desirable physical properties, such as thermal resistance and its ability to insulate against heat. Asbestos fiber is defined for counting purposes as a particle that is >5 μm in length and a length with width ratio of at least 3:1. For the most other crafts, average fiber concentrations were found to typically range from <0.01 to 1 fibers/cc with higher concentrations observed during the use of powered tools, the mixing or sanding of drywall cement, and the cleanup of asbestos insulation or lagging materials (Williams, Phelka, and Paustenbach 2007). Recently, the WHO reported that there are about 125 million people in the world exposed to asbestos at the workplace, and that at least 107,000 people die each year from asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis due to occupational exposure (WHO 2014). The International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that all forms of asbestos, including chrysotile, are causally associated with an increased risk of cancer of the lungs, larynx, and ovary, as well as mesothelioma and asbestosis (IARC 2012). Thus, it is important to manage asbestos properly in working conditions in both indoor and outdoor environments.
Asbestos-related disease in upholsterers
Published in Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, 2018
M. J. Cruz, J. Sampol, M. Pallero, E. Rodríguez, J. Ferrer
The risk of developing asbestos-related diseases has been consistently demonstrated in textile workers. High mortality rates for mesothelioma and lung cancer have been described in cohorts of workers handling chrysotile in several countries.7,8 In addition, asbestos was used in the manufacturing of a great variety of woven materials to produce thermal resistance. Therefore, electric and construction insulations, personal clothing, welding blankets, and other fireproofing materials were a source of asbestos exposure. Before the various national bans, fireproofing materials were installed in curtains, theater seats, school auditoriums, and so on, but the occupational risk to which upholsterers were exposed was largely unrecognized. Until now, only one ex-upholsterer who developed a mesothelioma has been reported. His asbestos exposure was related to the handling of recycled cloth used to stuff and pad pieces of furniture. Despite that report, upholstery is not currently listed as a risk activity in the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety reports (NIOSH).9
Mineral extraction from asbestos-containing waste (ACW) and changes in its morphology during treatment with ammonium salts
Published in Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 2023
Sangwon Park, Yeon-Sik Bong, Gwangmok Kim
Asbestos is a widely used building material because of its advantageous physico-chemical and thermal characteristics, such as high strength, fire resistance, insulation, and durability (Gadikota et al. 2014; Kusiorowski et al. 2015; Pawelczyk et al. 2017). It was commonly utilized worldwide in construction and building materials in the past (Nam, Jeong, and Lim 2014; Pawelczyk et al. 2017). However, International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention classified asbestos as a harmful and toxic material in the 1960s ILO (International Labor Organization). Thereafter, most countries prohibited the use of asbestos-containing materials (ACMs), especially European countries (Kazan-Allen 2003). Despite this prohibition, the generation of asbestos-containing waste (ACW) materials has been increasing because of previously erected buildings constructed with ACMs getting dismantled (Candela et al. 2007; Kusiorowski et al. 2013). Asbestos consists of mineral silicate fibers with serpentine chrysotile type being one of the most commonly occurring form (Belardi and Piga 2013; Horikoshi et al. 2014). Chrysotile is a fibrous Mg phyllosilicate composed of alternating Mg octahedra and Si tetrahedral sheets, rolled together to form tubes (McCutcheon, Wilson, and Southam 2016; Pawelczyk et al. 2017). ACMs can disseminate fibrils into the atmosphere due to natural weathering or during dismantling and transport (Belardi and Piga 2013; Pawelczyk et al. 2017). Asbestos is known to cause lung cancer and/or pneumoconiosis when its scattered particles enter the human body (Candela et al. 2007). Therefore, several technologies have been reported for the treatment of the ACW materials (Valouma et al. 2017).