Materials Industrial Research and Technology Center S.A.- Environmental Lab, 76th Km of Athens-Lamia National Road, 32009, Ritsona, Greece.
EPEM Engineering, Acharnon 141B, 10446, Athens, Greece.
Environ Geochem Health. 2024 Sep 24;46(11):452. doi: 10.1007/s10653-024-02211-z.
The present study was carried out to determine the presence of asbestos in Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas of Attica, Greece affected by wildfires between 2018 and 2021. It concerns the first major campaign that took place in Greece. The samples tested in this work were collected from prespecified buildings of the burned area. The samples included different types of building materials such as bricks, wall coatings, insulation plates etc. Soil samples nearby the buildings were also collected to examine dispersion of the fibers. The identification of asbestos was based on the optical properties of the fibrous particles and was performed with stereo microscope and Polarized Light Microscopy according to P401 provided by BOHS (Health and Safety Executive (HSE) 2021). Scanning Electron Microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy was also used to validate the presence of asbestos and determine its chemical composition. In this work, 2 different types of asbestos were determined, chrysotile and crocidolite. In some cases, fragments of asbestos containing materials were also detected in the afore-mentioned soil samples indicating dispersion of asbestos containing debris in an area around the burned spots. The presence of asbestos that was identified in this preliminary study could raise concerns to humans in the urban areas. For that reason, a risk assessment for the identified asbestos containing materials (ACMs) was conducted according to the guidelines on management and abatement of ACMs of Health and Safety Authority and the Asbestos: Survey guide, Appendix 4: Material assessment algorithm of Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
本研究旨在确定希腊阿提卡 Wildland Urban Interface（WUI）地区是否存在石棉，这些地区在 2018 年至 2021 年期间受到野火影响。这是希腊首次开展此类大规模活动。本工作中测试的样本取自受火灾影响地区预定建筑物。样本包括不同类型的建筑材料，如砖、墙壁涂料、隔热板等。还收集了建筑物附近的土壤样本，以检查纤维的分散情况。石棉的鉴定基于纤维颗粒的光学特性，并根据 BOHS（健康与安全执行局 (HSE)）提供的 P401 使用立体显微镜和偏光显微镜进行（2021 年）。还使用扫描电子显微镜和能量色散光谱法来验证石棉的存在并确定其化学成分。在本工作中，确定了两种不同类型的石棉，温石棉和青石棉。在某些情况下，上述土壤样本中也检测到含有石棉材料的碎片，表明石棉含有碎片在燃烧点周围区域分散。在这项初步研究中确定的石棉的存在可能会引起城市地区居民的担忧。因此，根据健康与安全管理局关于含有石棉材料（ACM）的管理和减轻指南以及健康与安全执行局（HSE）的石棉：调查指南、附录 4：材料评估算法，对已识别的含有石棉材料进行了风险评估。
