Asbestos in Water

An all-glass apparatus is advisable. If it is not available, one-holed asbestos stoppers may be made by soaking strips of asbestos in water, wrapping them around pieces of glass tubing of suitable size until the desired diameter has been reached, and then allowing them to dry at 110°. 

Asbestos is an airborne contaminant (Section 3.3.2), a hazardous solid waste (Section 3.5), and also a waterborne contaminant, regulated by many states. The health effect of asbestos in water, however, is not totally known. 

Figure 5.8 gives the main types of curve listed by Zettlemoyer and Narayan (1967) for this type of immersion calorimetry experiment with pre-coverage of the sample. Curve (a) is obtained with homogeneous surfaces with respect to the immersion liquid (e.g. chrysotile asbestos in water, Zettlemoyer et ai, 1953). Curve (b) is given by... 

A similar approach is used for measuring asbestos in water. A known volume (generally, at least 1 L) is drawn through a filter, and the filter is then prepared for examination, usually by TEM. Table 7-2 summarizes several representative methods for the analysis of asbestos in air and water. No methods were located for the analysis of asbestos in soil. 

EPA. 1978a. Development of a rapid analytical method for determining asbestos in water. Report to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Health Effects Research Laboratory, Athens, GA, by Battelle Columbus Laboratories. EPA-600/4-78-066. 

Millette JR, Clark PJ, Pausing MF. 1980. Concentration and size of asbestos in water supplies. Environ Health Perspect 34 13-25. 

Millette JR, Clark PJ, Stober J, et al. 1983a. Asbestos in water supplies of the United States. Environ Health Perspect 53 45-48. 

Filtration significantly reduced the amount of asbestos in water. Sand filter produced an effluent containing asbestos levels of the order of 0.6 10 f/1 magnesium oxide filter produced an effluent containing asbestos levels of the order of 0.3 10 f/1. 

The very extensive problems of the pollution of the hydrosphere by organic substances have been elaborated from different aspects in books, for example [24-29] and in numerous papers. Not all organic pollutants of the environment are considered here. For example, organic dyestuffs are missing, and so are the chlorinated dioxins and related derivatives [35] which are so topical from the environmental viewpoint [30-34], the chemical transformations of organic pollutants of the hydrosphere [36] whose importance is illustrated by few examples only from the field of photochemical transformations of pesticides, asbestos in waters [37] and other important groups of organic pollutants of the hydrosphere. 

Particles of colloidal silicates of polyvalent metals, for example, clay and asbestos, adsorb colloidal silica. Addition of colloidal silica improves dispersion and lowers viscosity of dispersions of asbestos in water without Introducing strong alkali such as sodium silicate (688, 689). 

A primary source of asbestos in water is naturally occurring asbestos m bedrock. Asbestos is generally associated with certain t)q5es of ultramafic rocks and as such, its presence can be predicted [3]. Another source of waterborne asbestos is asbestos-cement pipes that are deteriorating from aggressive water or severe fluctuations in hydraulic activity, or have been damaged by improper maintenance [4],... 

Chatfield, E.J., Dillon, M.J., and Stott, W.R., Development of improved analytical techniques for determination of asbestos in water samples, EPA-600/4-83-042,1983. 

Clark SG, Holt PF. Dissolution of chrysotile asbestos in water, acid, and alkali. Nature 1960 185 237. 

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