[Measurement of the fibrous dusts in West Germany. Fiber concentration in the vicinity of objects and buildings with asbestos-containing building materials].

Ambient air concentrations of fibrous dusts were measured in the vicinity of buildings with weathered and corroded asbestos-cement (AC)-products during 1983-1985. The concentrations of the total dust (TSP) were higher (mean value of 150 micrograms/m3) than the background concentrations. The mean value of ambient air asbestos concentrations lay at 750 fibers/3 for long asbestos fibers (longer than 5 microns). The maximum values were in the range of 10(3) fibers/m3. About 37% of the measured asbestos fiber concentrations (long fibers) were in the range above 500 fibers/m3; 12% of all long asbestos fiber concentrations were higher than 1000 fibers/m3. In the case of a proposed preventive concentration limit of 400 long asbestos fibers/m3, the asbestos fibers released from the corroded surfaces of AC-products on buildings, mean additional health risk not only for the house residents but in some cases also for the general population.