Asbestos fibre release by corroded and weathered asbestos-cement products.

A description is given of portable equipment and a method of sampling and measuring asbestos fibre emissions from solid plane surfaces of asbestos-cement products (roofs and facades). Asbestos-cement products, e.g., roof tiles, contain as much as 11-12% of chrysotile asbestos. As a result of continuing exposure to the weather and to acid rain, the surface of asbestos-cement products becomes corroded and weathered. Cement particles, asbestos fibres and agglomerates of particles and fibres are therefore released from the surface and dispersed in air and water. The method described has been used to measure asbestos fibre emissions and ambient air concentrations in the Federal Republic of Germany over the period 1984-1986.