Episodes 2020; 43(3): 869-879
Published online September 1, 2020
https://doi.org/10.18814/epiiugs/2020/0200s05
Copyright © International Union of Geological Sciences.
Elena Marrocchino1*, Chiara Telloli2, Fabio Faccia3, Antonietta Rizzo2, Lisa Volpe1
1 Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, University of Ferrara - via Saragat 1, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
2 ENEA, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development Fusion and Technology for Nuclear Safety and Security Department Nuclear Safety, Security and Sustainability Division - via Martiri di Monte Sole 4, 40129 Bologna, Italy
3 SOCOTEC ITALIA, Ferrara Department - via Annibale Zucchini 69, 44122 Ferrara, Italy
Correspondence to:*E-mail: mrrlne@unife.it
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Tremolite group minerals could be present in the aggregate used as filler in the mix asphalt floor in the road surfaces and are subject to wear for vehicular traffic and materials ageing. Dust produced by the degradation of asphalt surfaces can disperse tremolite group minerals present in road paving causing exposure by asbestos fiber to an increasing number of people and animals. In recent years, attention has been focused on naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) as the greatest frequency of lung cancer has been observed in environments characterized by rocks and soils rich in Tremolite that characterize asbestos minerals. Asphalt samples object of this study were collected in a motorway segment of the Lombardia Region (north of Italy) for an exposure assessment research on road paving workers. The evaluation was performed using a metrological approach based on petrographic and mineralogical analyses in order to reduce the epidemiologic risks and to define the best treatment strategies on waste management with sustainable costs in fulfilment of Council Directive 67/548/EEC (1967) and EC Regulation 1272/ 2008 (2008) (Paglietti et al., 2016). The fibers are generally not broken down to other compounds in the environment, but asbestos hazard could be related to the occurrence of tremolite fiber in road paving arises when natural weathering processes (e.g., erosion) or human activities (e.g., continuous passage of motorized vehicles) separate and break down the fibers, which could be lost into the environment as airborne and easily penetrate into the human respiratory tract (Punturo et al., 2019). Despite this, this work is not an epidemiological risk analysis but obtained data could be useful to other specialists to define the exposure risks.
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