Asbestos in Soils Workshop
CRC CARE held a one day workshop in August in Sydney on asbestos
in soil. With 60 participants from across Australia, the workshop
presented the latest developments in asbestos research and policy
in Australia and the US.
A key presentation by Arnold Den from the US EPA
concerned their new Framework for Evaluating Asbestos Sites. This
included the US EPA’s move towards Activity Based Sampling
(ABS) for determining the level of asbestos contamination at a
particular site. Arnold outlined the hand raking and air sampling
process used to provide a measure of fibre release from the
soil.
This move towards ABS by the US EPA highlighted
the relevance of the 0.001% weight /weight asbestos figure for
contamination in the soil that is commonly used in Australia. The
majority of participants agreed that this figure was too generic
and is not conducive to a risk-based approach for assessing
asbestos- contaminated sites.
Participants also agreed that, within Australia,
public perception and fear of asbestos was driving a very
conservative approach to management and remediation of
asbestos-contaminated sites. Participants generally agreed that the
public perception that ‘one fibre of asbestos can kill’
was due to a lack of clear, science-backed, communication. It was
highlighted that as a result of historical asbestos use, including
the use of asbestos- contaminated building materials, there are now
asbestos fibres in the air we breathe. Assuming the Australian
population has potentially been exposed in a manner similar to
Europeans and Americans, Australian cities may have ambient levels
of 10-100 asbestos fibres per cubic metre of air.
As an outcome of the workshop CRC CARE will
work with its regulatory and industry participants to investigate
where it can support asbestos-related policy and research to
address some of the current gaps, and support a risk-based approach
for the assessment of asbestos-contaminated sites.
