Study of asbestos fibre levels in and around a brake-lining industry

Abstract

<smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"><smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"> In India, out of 673 small-scale and 13 large-scale asbestos-based industries, only 60% industries are in operation. The present report reveals the exposure of commercial asbestos (chrysotile) in the occupational as well as ambient air environment of the brake-lining industry using membrane filter method of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The fibre concentrations in 9 samples collected in the occupational environment was 0.123-0.238 f/cc (mean 0.187 ± 0.03) and that in 6 samples from surrounding ambient air was 0.002-0.007 f/cc (mean 0.004 ± 0.00). All samples showed fibre concentration lower than the threshold limit values (TLVs) prescribed by BIS at 0.5 f/cc. Morphological analysis of samples further under phase contrast and polarized microscopy indicates the presence of chrysotile asbestos, which acts as carcinogen as well as co-carcinogen. </smarttagtype></smarttagtype>