Abstract
Asbestos inhalation is associated with fatal respiratory diseases and raises concerns from the perspective of workplace safety and environmental impacts. Asbestos and asbestos-like minerals naturally occur in rocks and may become airborne when outcrops or soils are disturbed by anthropic activities. In situ detection of these minerals is a crucial step for the risk evaluation of natural sites. We assess here whether a portable Raman spectrometer (pRS) may be used in the identification of asbestos and asbestos-like minerals at the mining front during exploitation. pRS performance was tested at three geologically different mining sites in Italy and New Caledonia and compared with a high-resolution micro-Raman spectrometer (HRS). About 80% of the overall in situ analyses at the mining front were successfully identified by pRS, even when intermixed phases or strongly disaggregated and altered samples were analyzed. Chrysotile and tremolite asbestos, asbestos-like antigorite, and balangeroite were correctly detected during surveys. The major difficulties faced during in situ pRS measurements were fluorescence emission and focussing the laser beam on non-cohesive bundles of fibers. pRS is adequate for discriminating asbestos and asbestos-like minerals in situ. pRS may support risk assessment of mining sites to better protect workers and environment.
Subject
Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes,Computer Science Applications,Process Chemistry and Technology,General Engineering,Instrumentation,General Materials Science
Reference55 articles.
1. History of asbestos discovery and use and asbestos-related disease in context with the occurrence of asbestos within ophiolite complexes
2. Erionite exposure in North Dakota and Turkish villages with mesothelioma
3. State-of-the-science assessment of non-asbestos amphibole exposure: Is there a cancer risk?
4. Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Arsenic, Metals, Fibres, and Dusts. A Review of Human Carcinogens,2012
5. Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Fluoro-Edenite, Silicon Carbide Fibres and Whhiskers, and Single-Walled and Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes,2017
Cited by
8 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献