Asbestos Investigation of an Inactive Mine in Chungbuk

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Research article

Journal of the Korean Society for Environmental Analysis 2011;14(2):110-119.

충북 폐석면광산지역의 석면 실태조사

신진호¹, 채영주², 이승철³, 정숙녀¹, 오석률¹, 김남진¹, 황순용¹, 김지희¹, 남은정¹, 엄석원²

¹서울특별시 보건환경연구원
²서울특별시보건환경연구원
³가톨릭대학교

Abstract

To investigate the quality of surface water and groundwater, and the airborne asbestos concentrations in ambient air near the Dong-a inactive mine, 21 water samples and 20 airborne samples were collected and analyzed. As a result, Anthophyllite fibers were detected in monitoring well at the quarry and no asbestos fibers were detected in other groundwater samples. On the other hand, 8 samples among 13 groundwater samples exceeded the standard for drinking water, especially for F- and NO3-N. Analyzed by PCM, the concentrations of airborne fibers in ambient air without site activity ranged between 0.0025 f/cc and 0.0029 f/cc at 8 samples of 20 airborne samples, below the guideline for indoor air quality (0.01 f/cc). However, additional airborne sample results by PCM indicated higher concentrations (0.0025~0.6130 f/cc) of fibers in the air based on four site activity scenarios (i.e. plowing, sweeping, weeding and grass cutting). Even though asbestos fibers were not detected in the ambient air samples by transmission electron microscopy, airborne asbestos fibers can be exposed to ambient air by agricultural activities. Therefore, in order to identify potential impact on surrounding receptors owing to airborne asbestos caused by site activities, site-specific studies such as risk assesment based on activity-based sampling are required.

Key Words: Asbestos, Inactive mine, Naturally Occurring Asbestos (NOA), Phase Contrast Microscope (PCM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)