Study on the concentration of airbone respirable asbestos fibres in rural areas of the Lublin region in south-east Poland.

OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was measurement of the concentrations of airborne asbestos fibres in the rural environment of the Lublin Region in south-east Poland. METHODS Measurements of concentrations of respirable asbestos fibres were carried out in the rural areas of the Lublin Region (Lublin and Włodawa counties) for a period of 24 months. The studies were conducted on 3 farms with various technical conditions of asbestos-containing materials: Farm A - good technical condition of asbestos products, Farm B - poor technical condition, and Farm C - with no asbestos containing products and no such products in its direct vicinity (up to 500 m). On the selected farms, 3 samples on each were simultaneously collected at 3 measuring sites. During the period 2009-2011, a total number of 216 samples were collected on all farms. Sampling was performed using JSH 16,000 stationary aspirators, with air flow velocity of 16 l/min. and sampling time 60-80 minutes. The number of fibres on filters was determined using an optical phase contrast microscope. RESULTS The study showed that the mean concentration of respirable asbestos fibres on the farms examined was 296 fibres•m (-3). The highest concentrations were noted on Farm B was 529 fibres•m (-3), on average; on farm A the mean concentration of respirable fibres was 328 fibres•m (-3), whereas the lowest mean concentration of airborne respirable asbestos fibres was noted on farm C, where there were no asbestos products (30 fibres•m(-3)).