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Concentrations of asbestos fibers and metals in drinking water caused by natural crocidolite asbestos in the soil from a rural area

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Abstract

Asbestos fibers and metals in drinking water are of significant importance to the field of asbestos toxicology. However, little is known about asbestos fibers and metals in drinking water caused by naturally occurring asbestos. Therefore, concentrations of asbestos fibers and metals in well and surface waters from asbestos and control areas were measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), inductively coupled plasma (ICP) optical emission spectrometer, and ICP–mass spectrometry in this study. The results indicated that the mean concentration of asbestos fibers was 42.34 millions of fibers per liter by SEM, which was much higher than the permission exposure level. The main compositions of both asbestos fibers in crocidolite mineral and in drinking water were Na, Mg, Fe, and Si based on energy dispersive X-ray analysis. This revealed that the drinking water has been contaminated by asbestos fibers from crocidolite mineral in soil and rock. Except for Cr, Pb, Zn, and Mn, the mean concentrations of Ni, Na, Mg, K, Fe, Ca, and SiO2 were much higher in both surface water and well waters from the asbestos area than in well water from the control area. The results of principal component and cluster analyses indicated that the metals in surface and well waters from the asbestos area were significantly influenced by crocidolite mineral in soil and rock. In the asbestos area, the mean concentrations of asbestos fibers and Ni, Na, Mg, K, Fe, Ca, and SiO2 were higher in surface and well waters, indicating that asbestos fibers and the metals were significantly influenced by crocidolite in soil and rock.

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Acknowledgments

The work described in this paper was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (project no. 41071064) and National public welfare sectors (Agriculture) special research (project no. 201203012-6). The authors are also thankful to the staff from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Dayao County and Chuxiong state, Yunnan, for their help with water and asbestos sampling. Finally, we thank Engineer Dong Shuping for his help in measuring asbestos fibers in samples using scanning electron microscopy analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11 A Datun Road, Beijing, 100101, People’s Republic of China

    Binggan Wei, Bingxiong Ye, Jiangping Yu, Biao Zhang & Linsheng Yang

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Binggan Wei & Biao Zhang

  3. Epidemiology Department, Bengbu Medical College, Benghu, Anhui, 233030, People’s Republic of China

    Xianjie Jia

  4. Dongying Environmental Protection Agency, Dongying, Shandong, 257091, People’s Republic of China

    Xiuwu Zhang

  5. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Dayao County, Yunnan, 675400, People’s Republic of China

    Rongan Lu

  6. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Chuxiong State, Yunnan, 675000, People’s Republic of China

    Tingrong Dong

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  1. Binggan Wei
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  2. Bingxiong Ye
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  3. Jiangping Yu
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  9. Linsheng Yang
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Correspondence to Linsheng Yang.

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Wei, B., Ye, B., Yu, J. et al. Concentrations of asbestos fibers and metals in drinking water caused by natural crocidolite asbestos in the soil from a rural area. Environ Monit Assess 185, 3013–3022 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2768-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2768-9

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