Anthropogener Asbest in Böden

Anthropogenic Asbestos in Soils Fibers of different asbestos types as well as other fibrous minerals, e.g. zeolites, have been found as natural contamination of soils or quarries in numerous countries and regions. Epidemiological studies have shown that inhabitants of these regions have high incidence of calcified pleural plaques and malignant pleural mesotheliomas. Anthropogenic contamination of soils by asbestos as well as asbestos contamination of the soil-near air layer were measured in this study. Soils were contaminated with chrysotile and amphibole asbestos during and after industrial asbestos processing. Asbestos fiber contaminations in the range of 10⁶ to 10¹¹ fibers/g soil and fiber concentrations as high as 5 × 10⁵ fiber/m³ air were measured. Soil contamination by anthropogenic asbestos can produce high or very high contamination of water and of ambient air by very fine fibers and entail carcinogenic risk for the general population, mainly for the inhabitants in the neighbourhood.     

Comparison of Two Methods for Assessment of In Situ Jet-fuel Remediation Efficiency

In 1997, total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) remediation started at a former Air Force Base, which operated from 1940 to 1991. TPH had been released to soil and groundwater at the site by military activities. The TPH was 70% jet fuel and the affected area covered 28 ha. Remediation involved a combination of technologies, including removal of volatile organic compounds using soil vapor extraction and air sparging, free product vacuum recovery and aerobic biodegradation of organics with oxygen supplied by the air sparging system, along with nutrient addition. The primary remedial method was found to be biodegradation, which has removed 93% of the contaminants from the site to date. A significant aspect of the remedial action was performance monitoring, including documentation of remediation efficiency. The goal of the research was to assess the relative accuracy of methods commonly used for monitoring in situ TPH remediation. Two such methods were selected for the research: monitoring change in soil TPH concentration (specified as non-polar extractable substances) and monitoring respiration activity in soil with a subsequent stoichiometric mass balance to estimate the mass of TPH destroyed. The study demonstrated that both of the methods provided comparable results regarding the effectiveness of in situ TPH remediation, despite the fact that their methodologies are very different.