Department of Earth Sciences, University of Torino, Torino, Italy; Interdepartmental Centre for Studies on Asbestos and Other Toxic Particulates "G. Scansetti", University of Torino, Torino, Italy.
Interdepartmental Centre for Studies on Asbestos and Other Toxic Particulates "G. Scansetti", University of Torino, Torino, Italy; Department of Surgery, Pathological Anatomy, Ospedale degli Infermi, Ponderano, Biella, Italy.
Environ Pollut. 2020 Aug;263(Pt B):114384. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114384. Epub 2020 Mar 16.
The present investigation represents a new approach useful to evaluate the general population risk correlated with environmental exposure to air dispersed inorganic fibers. The used method is based on the evaluation of the respirable inorganic fibers both air dispersed in a big city and contained in lungs of the general population following their respiration. Moreover, these data allow to identify the sources of dispersion (anthropogenic or natural) in air of the inorganic fibers and therefore to apply strategies to improve air quality. To describe this approach, we investigated air samples from a big city in NW Italy and lung inorganic burden of people here lived. This paper reports the data of the airborne inorganic fibers detected in two sampling campaign (2014 and 2016), in 24 districts of Torino (Piemonte - NW Italy), and in some autoptic lungs of general population lived here. The airborne fibers (collected on mixed-cellulose esters membrane) were characterized by SEMEDS. The identified inorganic fiber species were assigned to 5 classes, one of these including 2 types of asbestos. These last are grouped as tremolite/actinolite asbestos. They are dispersed from natural sources (i.e. certain kinds of rocks outcropping in the city surrounding areas). In no-one of the 24 districts of Torino their concentration highlighted a situation of asbestos pollution in place. A correlation with inorganic fibers (collected on mixed-cellulose esters membrane and characterized by SEM-EDS) detected in lung tissue samples of 10 subjects lived in Torino all their life and without professional exposure to asbestos were attempted. The only types of fibers identified as asbestos are tremolite/actinolite asbestos, and they match those detected in air sampling. The number of fibers per 1 g of tissue dry weight is lower than the quantities reported as indicative of significant asbestos exposure. We observed interesting gender differences.
本研究代表了一种新方法，可用于评估与环境空气中分散的无机纤维暴露相关的一般人群风险。所使用的方法基于对大城市空气中分散的可吸入无机纤维以及一般人群通过呼吸吸入的肺部中的可吸入无机纤维进行评估。此外，这些数据可用于识别空气中无机纤维的分散源（人为或自然），从而应用改善空气质量的策略。为了描述这种方法，我们调查了意大利西北部一个大城市的空气样本和这里居住的人们的肺部无机负担。本文报告了 2014 年和 2016 年在都灵（意大利皮埃蒙特-西北部）24 个区以及一些居住在此的普通人群的尸体肺中进行的两次采样活动中检测到的空气中无机纤维的数据。空气中的纤维（收集在混合纤维素酯膜上）通过 SEM-EDS 进行了特征描述。鉴定出的无机纤维种类分为 5 类，其中一类包括 2 种石棉。这些最后一组被归为透闪石/阳起石石棉。它们从天然来源（即城市周边地区出露的某些岩石）中分散出来。在都灵的 24 个区中，没有一个区的浓度表明存在石棉污染的情况。尝试将在都灵生活并终生未接触过石棉的 10 名受试者的肺组织样本中（收集在混合纤维素酯膜上并通过 SEM-EDS 进行特征描述）检测到的无机纤维与空气中的纤维进行了相关性研究。鉴定为石棉的纤维仅为透闪石/阳起石石棉，且与空气中的纤维检测结果一致。每 1 克组织干重的纤维数量低于报告的有意义的石棉暴露量。我们观察到了有趣的性别差异。
