• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.196-204
• /
• 2013

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze the number and influence factors of asbestos fibers in the air of farmhouses with asbestos cement slate roofing, as well as in rainwater per unit area of the asbestos cement slate roofing. Methods: At a distance of 1 m from the end of asbestos cement slate roofing in 20 farmhouses, the asbestos fiber in the air was collected three times on a clear day downwind from the prevailing wind. Rainwater falling from the slate roofing was collected four times with a 1.05-m rainwater pipe on a rainy day at the 20 farmhouses, filtered with a MCE filter, and analyzed with a phase contrast microscope. Results: The geometric mean of the number of asbestos fibers in the air of farmhouses with slate roofing was 0.11 fiber/L, and no samples exceeded the recommended standard of 10 fiber/L. As a result of multiple regression analysis, a factor which gave a significant influence to the asbestos fiber content in the air was the gross area of slate roofing at the target farmhouses. The number of asbestos fibers included in rainwater collected per 1 m2 of slate roofing was 1,753 fiber/$L{\cdot}m2$. As a result of multiple regression analysis, the number of asbestos fibers contained in rainwater per 1 m2 of slate showed a significantly higher tendency as the year of slate roofing installation at the target farmhouses receded. Conclusions: It was confirmed for the first time in Korea that asbestos from asbestos cement slate roofing scatters into the air.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.24 no.7
• /
• pp.927-937
• /
• 2015

This study was performed to identify and quantify the asbestos fibers released from two types of asbestos-cement slate roofs. One is a plant roof installed in 1987 which contained 15% chrysotile, and the other is a residential roof installed before 1983 which contained 12% chrysotile. The concentrations of asbestos fibers in air surrounding asbestos-cement slate roofs and in the falling water harvested from the same roofs on rainy days ranged from 0.0012 to 0.0018 f/mL and from 1,764 f/L to 10,584 f/L, respectively. The concentration of inorganic fibers in the soil around asbestos-cement slate roofs was from 217 to 348 f/g. With the above results, the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) for the risk assessment of the asbestos fibers released from asbestos-cement slate based on US EPA IRIS (Integrated risk information system) model is within 5.5E-06 ~ 6.5E-06 levels which indicates that the levels do not exceed "the acceptable risk(1.0E-05)" recommended by WHO. The asbestos concentration in air, drained rainfall and soil around the plant slate roof was higher than that around residential slate roof, but the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) from residential slate was higher than that from plant slate. This suggested that the enclose and encapsulation of residential roofs have priority in removal policy to minimize the exposure risk.