Heat-loving marine bacteria can help detoxify asbestos

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY

Asbestos materials were once widely used in homes, buildings, automobile brakes and many other built materials due to their strength and resistance to heat and fire, as well as to their low electrical conductivity. Unfortunately, asbestos exposure through inhalation of small fiber particles has been shown to be highly carcinogenic. 

Now, for the first time, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have shown that extremophilic bacteria from high temperature marine environments can be used to reduce asbestos’ toxicity. The research is published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. 

Much of their research has focused on use of the thermophilic bacterium Deferrisoma palaeochoriense to remove iron from asbestos minerals through anaerobic respiration of that iron. “Iron has been identified as a major component driving the toxicity of asbestos minerals and its removal from asbestos minerals has been shown to decrease their toxic properties,” said Ileana Pérez-Rodríguez, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania. 

D. palaeochoriense has also been shown to mediate transfer of electrical charge within the iron contained in asbestos, without changing its mineral structure. Doing so might enhance asbestos’ electrical conductivity, said Pérez-Rodríguez.

Based on this observation, the bacterium could be used to treat asbestos’ toxicity through iron removal. Alternatively, the new properties of electrical conductivity could enable reuse of treated asbestos for that purpose.  

As with iron, the fibrous silicate structures of asbestos are also carcinogenic. Removal of silicon and magnesium from asbestos has been shown to disrupt its fibrous structure. The investigators tested the ability of the thermophilic bacterium Thermovibrio ammonificans to remove these elements from asbestos minerals by accumulating silicon in its biomass in a process known as biosilicification.  

T. ammonificans accumulated silicon in its biomass when in the presence of “serpentine” asbestos, which has curly fibers, but not while growing in the presence of “amphibole” asbestos, which has straight fibers, said Pérez-Rodríguez. This difference, along with the varying amounts and types of elements released during microbe-mineral interactions with different types of asbestos “highlights the difficulty of approaching asbestos treatments as a one-size-fits-all solution, given the unique chemical compositions and crystal structures associated with each asbestos mineral,” Pérez-Rodríguez said. 

Overall, these experiments promoted the removal of iron, silicon and/or magnesium for the detoxification of asbestos in a superior manner as compared to other biologically mediated detoxification of asbestos, such as via fungi, said Pérez-Rodríguez. However, further analysis will be required to optimize asbestos treatments to determine the most practical methods for the detoxification and/or reuse of asbestos as secondary raw materials.

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The American Society for Microbiology is one of the largest professional societies dedicated to the life sciences and is composed of 30,000 scientists and health practitioners. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences.

ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications, educational opportunities and advocacy efforts. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences.

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JOURNAL

Applied and Environmental Microbiology

US asbestos sites made risky by some remediation strategies

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) largely remedies Superfund sites containing asbestos by capping them with soil to lock the buried toxin in place. But new research suggests that this may actually increase the likelihood of human exposure to the cancer-causing mineral.

"People have this idea that asbestos is all covered up and taken care of," said Jane Willenbring, who is an associate professor of geological sciences at Stanford University's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences (Stanford Earth). "But this is still a lingering legacy pollutant and might be dribbling out pollution, little by little."

Willenbring has published several studies about asbestos behavior and, most recently, turned her attention to the lack of information about how asbestos may move through the soils where it is stored. Through lab experiments with asbestos fibers, which were detailed in a paper published Jan. 27 in the Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters, she and colleagues determined that the soil's organic material actually enables the asbestos to move through the ground and potentially into nearby water supplies.

They found that dissolved organic matter changes the electric charge on asbestos particles and makes them less sticky, thereby enabling them to move faster through soil. The work disproves the prevailing theory that asbestos fibers cannot easily move through soil - an assumption that has been made in part because of the mineral's hair-like shape.

"It's surprising that even though these little fibers are so long, because their shortest diameter is small enough, they can wind their way through these soil pores," said Willenbring, who is senior author on the study.

Inhalation of asbestos increases the risk of developing lung disease and lung cancer, and exposure could occur through irrigation, taking showers, using humidifiers or other unfiltered sources that disperse water into the air.

A legacy pollutant

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that mainly forms in the subsurface, at the boundary of Earth's oceanic and continental crusts. For much of the 20th century, it was revered as a miracle building material for its high heat capacity and insulation properties, and mining and production boomed worldwide. Following widespread evidence of its link to cancer, including a rare and aggressive form called mesothelioma, production of asbestos in the U.S. declined dramatically starting in the 1970s.

In addition to thinking that the shape of the fibers would inhibit transport, the scientific community has been influenced by a 1977 EPA report that minimized the threat of asbestos moving through soil. Since then, new findings about the role of colloids - microscopic particles that remain dispersed within solutions rather than settling to the bottom - have led researchers to challenge the assumption that asbestos stays fixed in soil.

"Now we can show that exactly the thing that they do, which is add manure or other organic sludge to the asbestos piles that creates the production of dissolved organic matter, is exactly what causes the liberation of asbestos," Willenbring said. "It's actually facilitating the transport of asbestos fibers."

In some ways, the team's breakthrough about asbestos is not surprising because it aligns so closely with recent findings about the transport of colloids in soil, Willenbring said. But she was stunned by the scale of the problem: Millions of people in the U.S. are living near thousands of sites contaminated with asbestos.

At least 16 Superfund sites contain asbestos and areas where the mineral naturally occurs can also pose a risk.

Improving remediation

As part of the lab experiments, Willenbring and her team sampled soil from the BoRit Superfund Site in Ambler, Pennsylvania before it was capped in 2008. The waste dump is located next to a reservoir, as well as a stream that feeds water to the city of Philadelphia.

However, there is a silver lining to the team's discovery.

"Not all types of dissolved organic matter have the same effect on asbestos mobility," said lead study author Sanjay Mohanty, an assistant professor at UCLA's Civil and Environmental Engineering who collaborated with Willenbring on the experiments. "Thus, by identifying the types that have the worst effect, the remediation design could exclude those organic amendments."

As part of the remediation strategy, some sites include vegetation planted on top of the soil to prevent erosion. Willenbring's ongoing research involves figuring out how fungal-vegetation associations may be able to extract iron and make the asbestos fibers less toxic to people.

"It's not just inflammation in the lungs that's a problem - there's a process by which iron contained in the asbestos fiber is actually responsible for causing DNA damage, which can lead to cancer or mesothelioma," Willenbring said.

###

The study was co-authored by a researcher from Midwestern University.

The research was supported by the University of Pennsylvania's SRP Center Grant (P42 ES027320), "Asbestos fate, exposure, remediation, and adverse health effects" from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).

U.S. government experts, industry spar over asbestos testing in talc
SILVER SPRING, Md. (Reuters) - For the first time in nearly 50 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration examined asbestos testing for talc powders and cosmetics at a hearing on Tuesday, after traces of the known carcinogen were found in several such products, including Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder.

Citing those FDA findings, some U.S. lawmakers and consumer advocates have called for stricter safety regulations to protect public health.

J&J, the market leader in talc powders, has defended the safety of its talc. The company said tests by labs it hired found no asbestos in samples from the same bottle the FDA examined - except for some the company attributed to contamination from a laboratory air conditioner.

In a statement on Tuesday, the company said it looks forward to the FDA’s “thorough review of the most effective and reliable ways to test for asbestos in cosmetic talc.”

The hearing on asbestos testing in talc, the FDA’s first since 1971, focused on testing standards recommended by a panel of government experts. The recommendations, published last month, embrace positions held by public health authorities and experts for plaintiffs who in lawsuits allege that contaminated talc products caused their cancers.

An industry trade group criticized the recommendations, saying they would not improve product safety.

For decades, the cosmetic talc industry has largely been allowed to police itself with little FDA oversight. Although talc and asbestos are similar minerals often found together in the ground, the FDA has never required manufacturers to test for the carcinogen.

One of the most significant recommendations from the expert panel is that mineral particles found in talc products small enough to be drawn into the lungs, even those the industry would not technically categorize as asbestos, should be counted as potentially harmful.

In its report, the panel said both asbestos and look-alike minerals are suspected of causing “similar pathological outcomes,” so the “distinction is irrelevant.”

At Tuesday’s hearing, a government toxicologist said a wide range of spear-shaped mineral particles - including but not limited to asbestos - can trigger the development of cancer and should be part of any new testing regime.

‘THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE’

Christopher Weis, a senior advisor with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, said research has shown that conventional testing methods have failed to detect the full range of hazardous fibers, known as elongated mineral particles, or EMPs.

The process of milling talc for powders and cosmetics is known to break down any contaminants into small EMPs.

“All EMPs have the ability to trigger” development of cancer and other diseases, Weis said at the FDA hearing. “Short EMPs are not conventionally counted or included in lab reports. As a toxicologist, this is unacceptable.”

Mark Pollak, chief operating officer for the Personal Care Products Council, said the recommendation for counting more mineral particles as potentially harmful is not supported by science. The cosmetics trade group represents about 600 companies.

“Counting all (elongated mineral particles) would provide misleading reports, suggesting the presence of asbestos when none exists,” Pollak said at the hearing. “The key to effective testing is identification of asbestos, not harmless minerals.”

Scott Faber, senior vice president for government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, urged the FDA to endorse the more rigorous testing methods and said the agency should add a warning label to talc products so consumers are aware they may contain asbestos.

“It’s time to end the honor system which has failed consumers for so long,” Faber said at the hearing. “Let’s not wait another 50 years to finally protect consumers.”



The U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have limited exposure to asbestos on the job and in the air to reduce cancers since the 1970s, when the hazard was well established. A Reuters report in December (here) showed that, during the same period, the FDA downplayed health concerns, including possible asbestos contamination, in talc powders and cosmetics and repeatedly deferred manufacturers.

Dr. Linda Katz, director of FDA’s office of cosmetics and colors, said the panel of government experts from FDA and other agencies will continue studying these issues and plans to publish a white paper at some point. The FDA has not announced a timetable for deciding whether it will pursue new rules on testing.

The increased scrutiny on this issue follows a 2018 Reuters report (here) which showed that although J&J knew for decades its raw talc and powders sometimes tested positive for asbestos, the company did not report those findings to the FDA.

OPINION

Why the EU asbestos directive revision ... needs revising

• 
  

  In 2019, it was estimated that at least 70,000 people in the EU died from asbestos-related reasons — more than three times the number of people killed in traffic accidents

By NIKOLAJ VILLUMSEN

BRUSSELS, TODAY, 

The recent news that asbestos is two-to-three times as deadly as previously thought, reported here on EUobserver, has brought new — and needed — attention to an old and lingering problem: that of the silent killer, which continues to haunt us.

It comes after the European Commission in the autumn, finally, published its proposal for a revision of the directive on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work.

New rules are very much needed, as every year tens of thousands of Europeans die from asbestos-related illnesses and conditions, many without it even being recognised as a work-related death.

In 2019, it is estimated that at least 70,000 inhabitants in the EU dies from asbestos-related reasons. To put it into context, that figure is more than three times higher than the number of people killed in traffic that year.

The seriousness of the asbestos situation and the risk that the coming renovation and energy-efficiency wave will increase potential exposure, is the reason why we, in the European Parliament, already in 2021 demanded firm action.

It happened when a very large majority in the parliament, with support from left, right, and centre, adopted our report with recommendations to the commission on protecting workers from asbestos. This report laid out a string of requirements for what would constitute an adequate revision of the directive. It is a report that aimed for, and achieved, broad political backing, precisely so that we could use it to move forward.

As the rapporteur, I was proud of the consensus we ensured, and of how it was endorsed by so many of those that actually encounter asbestos as part of their work.

Revision needs revising

Therefore I was also surprised, disappointed, and frustrated when I read the proposed revision form the commission. Because, very clearly, the proposal for revision is itself in urgent need of a thorough revision. Something that the new figures of asbestos being even deadlier than previously thought, should underline.

All of this is not to say that there are not also good things in the revision, because there are. Several of them with a clear line to the work of the European Parliament. These include:

In addition to the actual revision of the directive, a "communication" has also been presented, with further measures and legislation that we can expect during 2022 and 2023.

These include:

A legislative proposal on mandatory screening and registration of asbestos in buildings, for example in connection with sales and rentals.

Proposals for a common digitised format for registration of all building-related data, including the results of the asbestos screening — a so-called 'EU building logbook'.

Steps to possibly update the commission list of occupational diseases.

Such initiatives are part of what we need and it is something the EU Parliament has already vouched for. They were all part of our 'recommendations to the commission on the protection of workers against asbestos' form 2021.

My disappointment and frustration comes from the parts that either contradicts or directly omits what has already been called for. This means that, especially, the following five points will have to be changed:

1. There must be a clear tightening of the directive, including removing any derogations from the directive's protective measures. If not, it will still in far too many cases be possible to deviate from the parts which are otherwise supposed to ensure the protection and supervision of employees' health.

2. There must be stricter requirements for sampling in connection with risk assessments. This includes certification of the personnel collecting the samples.

3. There must be a requirement for feasibility studies/screenings before energy renovations begin.

4. Introduction of an authorisation-scheme for companies working with asbestos and certified training of colleagues who work with asbestos.

Last but certainly not least:

5. We have to lower the limit value for asbestos set by the directive from the proposed 10,000 fibres per cubic meter, to 1,000 fibres per cubic meter, in line with what has already been decided by the EU Parliament.

So where do we stand now?

With all of the above in mind, I am both frustrated and hopeful. It would have been great to have the proposed directive already living up to our requirements from the beginning.

We are not there, but we are in a place from which we can reach our desired goal. It is my hope and belief that we, in the European Parliament, can revise the proposed revision to such an extent, that it will provide much needed better protection for those, whose work exposes them to asbestos. That makes me hopeful.

AUTHOR BIO

Nikolaj Villumsen is a Danish MEP with the Left, and rapporteur of the European Parliament's 2021 report on protecting workers from asbestos, and shadow rapporteur on the upcoming revision.

BNSF Railway says it didn’t know about asbestos that’s killed hundreds in Montana town

WARREN BUFFET'S CHOO CHOO


- In this April 27, 2011, file photo, the entrance to downtown Libby, Mont., is seen. BNSF Railway attorneys are expected to argue before jurors Friday, April 19, 2024, that the railroad should not be held liable for the lung cancer deaths of two former residents of the asbestos-contaminated Montana town, one of the deadliest sites in the federal Superfund pollution program. 

(AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

- Dr. Lee Morissette shows an image of lungs damaged by asbestos exposure, at the Center for Asbestos Related Disease, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Libby, Mont. BNSF Railway attorneys are expected to argue before jurors Friday, April 19, 2024, that the railroad should not be held liable for the lung cancer deaths of two former residents of the asbestos-contaminated Montana town, one of the deadliest sites in the federal Superfund pollution program.

 (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

- Environmental cleanup specialists work at one of the last remaining residential asbestos cleanup sites in Libby, Montana, in mid-September. BNSF Railway attorneys are expected to argue before jurors Friday, April 19, 2024, that the railroad should not be held liable for the lung cancer deaths of two former residents of the asbestos-contaminated Montana town, one of the deadliest sites in the federal Superfund pollution program.

 (Kurt Wilson/The Missoulian via AP, File)

BY MATTHEW BROWN AND AMY BETH HANSON
 April 18, 2024


HELENA, Mont. (AP) — BNSF Railway attorneys are expected to argue before jurors Friday that the railroad should not be held liable for the lung cancer deaths of two former residents of an asbestos-contaminated Montana town, one of the deadliest sites in the federal Superfund pollution program.

Attorneys for the Warren Buffett-owned company say the railroad’s corporate predecessors didn’t know the vermiculite it hauled over decades from a nearby mine was filled with hazardous microscopic asbestos fibers.

The case in federal civil court over the two deaths is the first of numerous lawsuits against the Texas-based railroad corporation to reach trial over its past operations in Libby, Montana. Current and former residents of the small town near the U.S.-Canada border want BNSF held accountable for its alleged role in asbestos exposure that health officials say has killed several hundred people and sickened thousands.

Looming over the proceedings is W.R. Grace & Co., a chemical company that operated a mountaintop vermiculite mine 7 miles (11 kilometers) outside of Libby until it was closed 1990. The Maryland-based company played a central role in Libby’s tragedy and has paid significant settlements to victims.

Asbestos victims in Montana want Buffett’s railroad company held responsible

U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris has referred to the mining company as “the elephant in the room” in the BNSF trial. He reminded jurors several times that the case was about the railroad’s conduct, not W.R. Grace’s separate liability.

Federal prosecutors in 2005 indicted W. R. Grace and executives from the company on criminal charges over the contamination in Libby. A jury acquitted them following a 2009 trial.

How much W.R. Grace revealed about the asbestos dangers to Texas-based BNSF and its corporate predecessors has been sharply disputed.

The railroad said it was obliged under law to ship the vermiculite, which was used in insulation and for other commercial purposes, and that W.R. Grace employees had concealed the health hazards from the railroad.

Former railroad workers said during testimony and in depositions that they knew nothing about the risks of asbestos. They said Grace employees were responsible for loading the hopper cars, plugging the holes of any cars leaking vermiculite and occasionally cleaned up material that spilled in the rail yard.

Former rail yard worker John Swing said in previously recorded testimony that he didn’t know asbestos was an issue in Libby until a 1999 newspaper story reporting deaths and illnesses among mine workers and their families.

Swing also said he didn’t think the rail yard was dusty. His testimony was at odds with people who grew up in Libby and recall dust getting kicked up whenever the wind blew or a train rolled through the yard.

The estates of the two deceased plaintiffs have argued that the W.R. Grace’s actions don’t absolve BNSF of its responsibility for knowingly exposing people to asbestos at its railyard in the heart of the community.

Their attorneys said BNSF should have known about the dangers because Grace put signs on rail cars carrying vermiculite warning of potential health risks. They showed jurors an image of a warning label allegedly attached to rail cars in the late 1970s that advised against inhaling the asbestos dust because it could cause bodily harm.

BNSF higher-ups also should have been aware of the dangers because they attended conferences that discussed dust diseases like asbestosis in the 1930s, attorneys for the plaintiffs argued.

The Environmental Protection Agency descended on Libby after the 1999 news reports. In 2009 it declared in Libby the nation’s first ever public health emergency under the federal Superfund cleanup program.

The pollution in Libby has been cleaned up, largely at public expense. Yet the long timeframe over which asbestos-related diseases can develop means people previously exposed are likely to continue getting sick and dying for years to come, health officials say.

Family members of Tom Wells and Joyce Walder testified that their lives ended soon after they were diagnosed with mesothelioma. The families said the dust blowing from the rail yard sickened and killed them.

In a March 2020 video of Wells played for jurors and recorded the day before he died, he lay in a home hospital bed, struggling to breathe.

“I’ve been placed in a horrible spot here, and the best chance I see at release — relief for everybody — is to just get it over with,” he said. “It’s just not something I want to try and play hero through because I don’t think that there’s a miracle waiting.”
___

Brown reported from Billings, Mont.

 

NIST researchers identify a cheaper, more convenient method to detect asbestos

The scientists found that scanning electron microscopy (SEM) can serve as a replacement for more labor-intensive, costly techniques used in construction.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY (NIST)

 

IMAGE: 

IMAGES OF ASBESTOS FIBERS TAKEN BY SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (SEM).

view more 

CREDIT: J. HOLM/NIST

For decades, a laboratory procedure known as transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been used to test for asbestos in samples taken at construction sites.

In 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) required most schools undergoing asbestos abatement to use TEM to test for the presence of asbestos fibers in air samples before reopening. Several states require or recommend using TEM for testing as part of asbestos removal in commercial buildings.  

But TEM must be carried out in a specialized lab by highly trained staff and can be expensive. Another approach, phase contrast microscopy, is easier and cheaper but less precise.

Now, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have determined that a third option, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), can achieve results roughly comparable to TEM. SEM is a “viable alternative to the current regulatory methods for asbestos identification and classification,” the NIST researchers Jason Holm and Elisabeth Mansfield wrote in a new paper published in Analytical Methods.

Since SEM is, in many cases, cheaper and more convenient than TEM, the finding could potentially speed up and reduce the expense of asbestos remediation in the United States, which costs an estimated $3 billion every year.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral whose fibers were used for insulation, weather- and fire-proofing and reinforcing building materials. Its use began declining in the 1970s as researchers became aware of its health risks, including its link to cancer. In March, the EPA banned the last form of asbestos still in use.

As their names suggest, both TEM and SEM are types of electron microscopy. In both methods, technicians focus electron beams on a microscopic amount of material. Electrons interact with the material to produce highly detailed information on the material’s composition, structure and shape.

With TEM, the electrons pass through the sample, whereas with conventional SEM, they are reflected off the surface. This enables TEM to produce more detailed images and probe the surface’s interior. TEM also offers much better spatial resolution — the ability to distinguish between objects very close together — than SEM.

But in recent years, SEM manufacturers have improved the technology’s imaging power and other capabilities. Several companies now produce tabletop SEMs, making it possible to use the technology in the field, while TEM must still be done in a lab. Holm said training to use and operate SEM equipment can be completed in several months, while “expertise in TEM can take years to establish.”

“There are some capabilities TEM has which SEM doesn’t, but we think SEM is good enough” for use in asbestos abatement, said Holm.

To test SEM on asbestos, Holm and Mansfield used NIST Standard Reference Material (SRM) 1866, a sample of asbestos fibers the agency produces for labs to benchmark their equipment and testing procedures. The SRM comes with extensive data characterizing the properties of the material.

Using SEM, the researchers analyzed SRM 1866. Their results closely agreed with those listed in the SRM’s documentation, indicating the method’s accuracy.

Holm and Mansfield summarized SEM’s potential advantages by writing that it could result in “lower equipment cost, less stringent operator training requirements, increased sample throughput and greater field of view compared to TEM.”

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JOURNAL

Analytical Methods

DOI

10.1039/D4AY00555D 

ARTICLE TITLE

Transmission electron imaging and diffraction of asbestos fibers in a scanning electron microscope

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

24-Jun-2024

Asbestos: The silent killer in Turkey's earthquake region

Serdar Vardar in Hatay | Pelin Ünker in Hatay

DW
SEP. 26, 2023

Officials deny it but a DW investigation has found that the rubble from Turkey's devastating February earthquake contains life-threatening amounts of asbestos.

A DW exclusive investigation shows that in many places the dust from the earthquake rubble contains asbestos, a 'definite carcinogen' according to the WHO

Image: Serdar Vardar/DW

In Hatay, southern Turkey, crews are still demolishing buildings that were heavily damaged in the earthquake that struck on February 6, 2023, and killed tens of thousands of people. Yellow diggers move piles of leftover rubble, kicking up clouds of dust that shroud the city.

Some children walk through the debris to find a spot to play soccer. As they breathe, they're potentially inhaling a silent killer: asbestos.

The toxic building material has contaminated plants, soil and rubble in the key agricultural region, pointing to a serious, unfolding public health crisis, according to an exclusive investigation by DW's Turkish and Environment desks.

An expert team from the Turkish Chamber of Environmental Engineers collected dust samples in Hatay, which were then analyzed by AGT Vonka Engineering and Laboratory Services, an internationally accredited laboratory, for DW. The investigation shows the presence of asbestos in the region despite official claims to the contrary.

Public health experts told DW that people living in the earthquake-hit area, including thousands of children, are at serious risk of asbestos-linked cancers of the lungs and larynx. Mesothelioma, which is a particularly deadly and aggressive cancer, is another danger.

"In the coming years, we may face the deaths of tens of thousands of very young people due to mesothelioma cases," said Özkan Kaan Karadag, a medical doctor and expert in public and occupational health, after seeing the initial lab results from DW's investigation.
Clearing earthquake rubble exposes population to health risks

Once hailed as a miracle material with a vast range of uses, asbestos is now classified as a "definite carcinogen" by the World Health Organization. But asbestos construction materials are still found in many buildings in Turkey constructed before a 2010 ban on its sale — the exact number is unclear.

When these materials — often found in roofs, sidewalls and insulation — are broken, the asbestos can crumble to microscopic sizes and become airborne, spreading in the wind.

The February 6 earthquake destroyed 100,000 buildings in 11 cities, including Hatay. More than 200,000 others were severely damaged. The UN also estimated the quake, alongside a smaller one two weeks later, left between 116 million and 210 million tons of rubble. That's enough debris to cover an area nearly twice the size of Manhattan.

Workers are still demolishing damaged buildings and removing debris, often without masks or protective gear. In some cases, they are not using suppression methods — like spraying water — that would prevent the spread of dust. The DW team on the ground saw only one case of dust suppression with water during their investigation.

Organizations such as the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects say their warnings about the public health risks posed by haphazard post-earthquake demolition, debris removal and waste disposal practices are being ignored.

In response to these warnings, Mehmet Emin Birpinar, the then-Deputy Minister of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change, wrote on social media in June that there was no asbestos in the air.

"Our citizens in the earthquake zone can rest assured; we are working very carefully on asbestos," he said.

DW analysis finds asbestos in Turkish earthquake region despite official denials

But the results of the DW analysis of 45 samples from six different neighborhoods in Hatay appear to contradict official statements.

Sixteen randomly taken samples, including dust collected from the tops of tents of those made homeless by the earthquakes — as well as from leaves, fruit, soil and rubble — contained asbestos.

A dust sample taken from the leaves of an olive tree tested positive for chrysotile and anthophyllite types of asbestos

Image: ÇMO

In Gaziantep, 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Hatay, DW took a final dust sample from the roof of their rental car. The sample was positive for asbestos. The team had taken a control sample before leaving Gaziantep for Hatay after washing the car two days previously, and that sample was negative.

Experts told DW that this showed how the fibrous material can cling to vehicles and travel long distances.

Cancers linked to asbestos exposure can take decades to appear. However, the thick dust in the region is already harming health, with children at substantial risk, according to experts.

Fifteen-year-old Limar Yunusoglu and her family fled to Turkey from Syria to escape the war. After the earthquake they moved into tents near a rumble dump. Her brother is now ill.

"My brother got sick from the dust. We take him to the hospital, and they give him oxygen. But then we come back here where the dust hurts him. Sometimes he sleeps the whole week," said Yunusoglu.

Some 50 kilometers along the coast, a tradesman told DW that dust is making him and his family sick too. In the ruins next to his shop, there's a lot of waste, from electronic goods to insulations materials known to contain asbestos.

"We all have our noses and mouths full of dust. Our houses, our tents, the front of our houses, our cars are all full of dust. That's why our children and us, our mothers and fathers are all sick," he said, while showing red blotches that have appeared on his arms and stomach.

Public health expert Karadag said it was difficult to determine how many people are affected in the region without objective health monitoring studies.

"Official statements claiming that people are not affected only result in covering up the problem," he said.

Civil society working to address asbestos problem

In April, Hatay Bar Association and environmental and health organizations filed a lawsuit to halt demolition activities in the city, but the case is still pending after five months.

Ecevit Alkan from the Hatay Bar Association is one of the lawyers trying to fight against bad practices of waste removal. He too fell ill from the dust.

Health experts believe that thousands of children in the earthquake region are at risk of developing lung cancer by the time they reach their thirties

Image: Pelin Ünker/DW

Alkan helped map out all the rubble dump areas used in the city, because the authorities have not made the information public, he said. He shows DW one site that is close to a high school as well as to the container city for earthquake victims and an irrigation canal for farming. Hatay is part of the country's fertile crescent, and its agricultural produce like parsley and chard are transported all over the country.

"So, it is very risky to use this place as a rubble dump, for both humans and the environment," said Alkan.

Utku Firat, an environmental engineer who helped collect dust samples for DW, said the danger could have been minimized by removing asbestos materials before buildings were demolished.

"Not only did they fail to do so, but they also still do not even cover the lorries carrying the rubble with tarpaulins. Even this would have helped a lot," Firat said of the authorities and demolition companies.

While the damage that's happened so far cannot be reversed, some safety measures would at least diminish some of the dangers for people like Limar Yunusoglu and her brother.

"Masks should be distributed to the people and the workers in the region, and they should be encouraged to use them," said Firat. "Residential units in areas that are affected most by dust should be identified and moved to another place."

But the main solution, experts say, is to admit the problem and safely dispose of the deadly material.

Edited by: Jennifer Collins

Serdar Vardar Reporter working for DW's Environment desk.https://twitter.com/SerdarVardar_

 

New AI tool efficiently detects asbestos in roofs so it can be removed

The computer vision system uses freely available aerial photographs and has demonstrated a level of accuracy of over 80%

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITAT OBERTA DE CATALUNYA (UOC)

A team of researchers from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) has designed and tested a new system for detecting asbestos that has not yet been removed from the roofs of buildings, despite regulatory requirements. The software, developed in partnership with DetectA, applies artificial intelligence, deep learning and computer vision methods to aerial photographs, using RGB images, which are the most common and economical type. This represents a very important competitive advantage over previous attempts to create a similar system, which required multiband images that are more complex and difficult to obtain. The success of this much more scalable project will allow the removal of this highly toxic building material to be more systematically and effectively monitored.

"Unlike infrared or hyperspectral imaging methods, our decision to train AI with RGB images ensures the methodology is versatile and adaptable. In Europe and many other countries around the world this type of aerial imaging is freely available in very high resolutions," explained Javier Borge Holthoefer, lead researcher of the Complex Systems group (CoSIN3) at the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3). Borge Holthoefer is leading this research, together with Àgata Lapedriza, researcher with the eHealth Center's Artificial Intelligence for Human Well-being group (AIWELL) and a member of the UOC's Faculty of Computer Science, Multimedia and Telecommunications. Their research has been published as open access in Remote Sensing. UOC doctoral students Davoud Omarzadeh, Adonis González-Godoy, Cristina Bustos and Kevin Martín Fernández also contributed to the project, together with the founders of DetectA, Carles Scotto and César Sánchez.

The researchers trained the deep learning system using thousands of photographs held by the Cartographic and Geological Institute of Catalonia, teaching the AI tool which roofs contain asbestos and which do not. 2,244 images were used (1,168 positive for asbestos and 1,076 negative). 80% were used to train and validate the system, with the remaining images reserved for the final test. The software is now able to determine if asbestos is present in new images by assessing different patterns, such as the colour, texture and structure of the roofs, as well as the area surrounding the buildings. The project will be useful in urban, industrial, coastal and rural areas. By law, municipalities should have performed a survey of buildings containing asbestos by April 2023, but not all of them have yet done so.

Hyperspectral photographs make it easier to detect asbestos, because they contain many more layers of information, but they are not ideal for developing an efficient detection method, due to their limited availability and the high cost of obtaining them. The system developed by the UOC researchers is the first to use RGB images, which can be taken from aircraft and are commonly used by many countries' cartographic services. "Although these images contain less information, we have achieved comparable results by training the deep learning system well, with a success rate of over 80%," explained the CoSIN3 researcher.

 

Banned for over two decades

More than twenty years after its use in construction was banned, asbestos remains a major public health problem. It is estimated that, in Catalonia alone, over four million tonnes of asbestos fibre cement is still in place. According to the World Health Organization it causes more than 100,000 deaths a year globally, mainly from lung cancer, but also other conditions including pleural tumours and pulmonary fibrosis. The legal target for removing asbestos from public buildings is 2028 and the target for private buildings is 2032.

The development of this technological solution will contribute to tackling one of the key issues in the fight against asbestos: how authorities can identify which roofs contain asbestos, so it can be removed by qualified, accredited professionals. "There is currently no protocol or effective system for locating the asbestos that is still out there, because it is expensive and time-consuming to inventorize using people on the ground," said Borge Holthoefer.

Now his team is looking into expanding the AI system training base in order to make it as effective in rural environments as it is in urban and industrial locations, where it is a little more reliable because the system was trained with more data from these areas, and also because asbestos wear and conservation is different in rural conditions, and it may be covered by layers of vegetation.

 

This research project contributes to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).

 

UOC R&I

The UOC's research and innovation (R&I) is helping overcome pressing challenges faced by global societies in the 21st century by studying interactions between technology and human & social sciences with a specific focus on the network society, e-learning and e-health.

Over 500 researchers and more than 50 research groups work in the UOC's seven faculties, its eLearning Research programme and its two research centres: the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) and the eHealth Center (eHC).

The university also develops online learning innovations at its eLearning Innovation Center (eLinC), as well as UOC community entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer via the Hubbik platform.

Open knowledge and the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development serve as strategic pillars for the UOC's teaching, research and innovation. More information: research.uoc.edu.

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JOURNAL

Remote Sensing

DOI

10.3390/rs16081342