When a building's water supply contains asbestos fibers, is there a residual asbestos hazard on building surfaces, in building air, or left in clothing after laundering?

This article describes the potential hazard of asbestos-contaminated surfaces or fabrics, sources of that contamination, and the potential hazards as well as remedies.

Page top photo: asbestos cement transite water supply pipe in poor condition may shed significant levels of asbestos fibres & particles into the water supply. Water whose asbestos content is considered "acceptable" by some standards might, as some researchers suggest, result in unacceptable levels of surface or airborne asbestos contaminants in buildings or in fabrics or clothes washed in such water.

This article series lists & describes forms in which asbestos was used in building materials & products, including providing a master list of the forms in which asbestos was used, a list of known asbestos-containing materials, and links to detailed articles about individual asbestos-containing products & materials found in buildings and in a wide range of products used in both home and industry.

Asbestos Hazards in Buildings from Asbestos-Contaminated Water

Asbestos hazards may be present on building surfaces such as a bathroom or shower floor/wall and asbestos may be left in textiles after washing with water that contains even "acceptable" levels of asbestos in the water itself.

Waterborne asbestos concentration higher than 40 ∙ 106 f/L generates an air concentration higher than 1 fibre per litre [f/L], the alarm threshold limit set by World Health Organization for airborne asbestos. (Avanteno 2022)

Photo: Asbestos cement (Transite) water pipes being installed, Johns Manville Corp. in ASBESTOS HISTORY & PROPERTIES [Book online] D.V. Roasato, engineering consultant, Newton MA, Reinhold Publishing Co., NY, 1959, Library of Congress Catalog No. 59-12535.

How Much Asbestos is Left on Building Surfaces by Evaporation of Asbestos-Contaminated Water?

 

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

The following discussion with one of our Spanish speaking readers, given here in English, can be read in Spanish - se puede leer esta página en español

en CONTAMINACIÓN CON ASBESTOS EN EDIFICIOS Y TEJIDOS POR AGUA

On 2023-03-06 by Jesús -

Reading this article: CLOTHES DRYER ASBESTOS I have a thought:

Apparently it is more or less accepted that drinking water can have up to more than 1 MFL (million fibers per liter of water) of asbestos, depending on the areas studied.

So, if the water is used to shower, wash clothes, wash glasses and cutlery, the floor, etc., when it dries, all these fibers would remain on the surfaces, the floor, the used towels, the dishes..

So, all the houses and objects that are washed with water would be contaminated by asbestos? - Thank you!

On 2023-03-07 by InspectApedia Editor - What is the level of asbestos contamination inside a building from a contaminated water source...?

@Jesús,

Thank you for the interesting question that we understand to be asking the following: What is the level of asbestos contamination, measured in fibers per square meter of surface, by evaporation of water that contained the current allowable level of asbestos contamination, and how dangerous is that? Asbestos standards vary by country.

For the U.S., the US EPA's MCLG and the EPA's Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL / mg/L) ) for asbestos in drinking water (where the fiber is > 10 micrometers) are both set to 7M (7 million) milligrams of fiber per liter of drinking water. The hazard for asbestos in drinking water is thought to be an increased risk of developing benign intestinal polyps.

But you're right, that standard does not address the possibility of airborne asbestos from the remains of such water that might be left on a bath tub or shower surface. We think, but do not know, that that is because those agencies have not considered such remains as a significant hazard.

For others who may not know these abbreviations:

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) - The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs allow for a margin of safety and are non-enforceable public health goals.

Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) - The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology and taking cost into consideration. MCLs are enforceable standards.

Source:

• US EPA, NATIONAL PRIMARY DRINKING WATER REGULATIONS [PDF] original source: https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/national-primary-drinking-water-regulations#one

How Much Asbestos is Left on Bathroom Surfaces from Asbestos in the Water Supply?

The volume of asbestos particles left behind from water meeting that US EPA goal would be much less because only a fraction of one L of water would be left on a typical bath tub or shower surface when the water has been turned off and the fixture has drained. And we would need to have objective data that reported on the actual percentage of fibers that remain on surfaces as such water dries.

Then we would need to have objective data on the portion of those surface-deposited fibers that become airborne, over a specific time period, and within a specific volume of space, and finally

We would need to adjust that airborne asbestos level for the effects of dilution of that original air (for example in a bathroom) by the movement of other building air, ventilation, fresh air intake, the effects of a bathroom exhaust and similar factors.

Finally, we would need to have an estimate or measure of the amount of time people spend in that space to compare that with a permissible exposure level or PEL such as that we have from US OSHA: OSHA's PEL (Permissible exposure limit) for asbestos in the workplace is 0.1 fibers/cc of air (8-hour TWA).

Here is an EPA statement on this matter:

EPA AND NIOSH POSITIONS ON ASBESTOS

In an effort to calm unwarranted fears that a number of people seem to have about the mere presence of asbestos in their buildings and to discourage the decisions by some building owners to remove all ACM regardless of its condition, the EPA Administrator issued an Advisory to the Public on Asbestos in Buildings in 1991.

This advisory summarized EPA’s policies for asbestos control in the presentation of the following “five facts”:

1. Although asbestos is hazardous, the risk of asbestos-related disease depends upon the actual exposure to airborne asbestos fibers.
2. Based upon available data, the average airborne asbestos levels in buildings seem to be very low. Accordingly, the health risk to most building occupants also appears to be very low.
3. Removal is often not a building owner’s best course of action to reduce asbestos exposure. In fact, an improper removal can create a dangerous situation where none previously existed.
4. EPA only requires asbestos removal in order to prevent significant public exposure to airborne asbestos fibers during building demolition or renovation activities.
5. EPA does recommend a pro-active, in place management program whenever asbestos-containing material is discovered.
   

It's worth noting that in the U.S., another agency, NIOSH, argues that there is NO safe limit for airborne asbestos fibers - again, this is for the workplace not for private homes.

• ASBESTOS HAZARD ADVICE EPA NIOSH [PDF] Original source: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-01/documents/append.pdf
  
  
• Avataneo, Chiara, Jasmine R. Petriglieri, Silvana Capella, Maura Tomatis, Mariagrazia Luiso, Giuliana Marangoni, Elisa Lazzari et al. "CHRYSOTILE ASBESTOS MIGRATION IN AIR FROM CONTAMINATED WATER: AN EXPERIMENTAL SIMULATION." [PDF] Journal of Hazardous Materials 424 (2022): 127528.
  
  Abstract
  In Naturally Occurring Asbestos (NOA) rich areas, water flows through asbestos bearing rocks and soils and generates waterborne fibres that may migrate in air and become a risk for humans. Research on the migration and dispersion after water vaporisation has been so far only marginally evaluated.
  
  This study investigates the migration in air of asbestos from a set of suspensions contaminated by chrysotile from Balangero (Italy), under controlled laboratory conditions. We evaluated i) the morphological modifications that might occur to chrysotile during migration from water to air, and ii) the amount of airborne chrysotile mobilised from standardised suspensions.
  
  Morphological alteration of asbestos fibres occurred during water-air migration and impacted on the analytical response of electron microscopy.
  
  Waterborne asbestos concentration higher than 40 ∙ 106 f/L generates in air concentration higher than 1 fibre per litre [f/L], the alarm threshold limit set by World Health Organization for airborne asbestos. A possible correlation between the waterborne fibre concentration as mass or number of fibres per volume unit [μg/L or f/L] was observed.

Continuing:

• Grosse, Ingrid, Barbara Huetter, Ingrid Hartmann, Gisela Binde, Harald Gruber, and Gottfried Kurz. "Asbestos on textiles: is there an endangering during washing and wearing?." Journal of hazardous materials 63, no. 2-3 (1998): 119-130.
  
  excerpt: … the hazard posed by textiles treated in washing baths containing small amounts of asbestos
  fibres from drinking water, …
  
  
  Abstract
  Asbestos is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant despite the ban of its use since about 10 years ago. Textiles may be contaminated by asbestos fibres from drinking water or household chemicals, and so a health risk could be possible.
  
  To obtain knowledge on the real hazard of asbestos fibres deposited on textiles, the behaviour of asbestos during washing, rinsing and drying of textiles has been investigated using an asbestos-like model fibre, i.e. fluff of cationically modified cellulose fibres. The results showed only small amounts of about 10% of contaminating fibres remained after washing and drying.
  
  Some special investigations were also made using asbestos fibres themselves. The simultaneous influence of mechanical and thermal energy, increased by addition of detergents leads to a continuous fibrillation of the asbestos fibres reducing their length below that believed to be hazardous to health.
  
  The results cannot be transferred to highly contaminated protective clothing without additional investigations. However asbestos contamination of textile from drinking water or household chemicals in washing processes is highly unlikely to give rise to a health hazard.
  
  Introduction
  
  The use of asbestos has been prohibited in Germany and many other countries for over 10 years. Very big amounts of this fibrous mineral have, however, been used as building materials, non-inflammable clothing, as filters in the beverage industry, or as diaphragms of the chlorine-alkali electrolysis in the chemical industry because of its thermal and chemical resistance. Four million tons of asbestos were used worldwide alone in 1990 [21], most of which still in exist.
  
  Substitutes with suitable properties have been found for nearly all applications (e.g. Dolan 10 in fibre-reinforced cement plates [1]). But to replace the existing asbestos-containing materials by asbestos-free ones and so to remove the sources of a permanent latent contamination is only gradually attainable.
  
  The aim of this work, as supported by the Saechsisches Ministerium fuer Wirtschaft und Arbeit, was to find out the possible sources of the contamination of textiles by asbestos fibres, to estimate the real hazard by small amounts of asbestos deposited on textiles and to show possibilities to minimize any risk. The results shall give arguments against the psychosis brought about by `Yellow Press' publications.
  
  Asbestos cement in buildings and water mains appears as one source of the contamination. In 1986, the watermain network in the United States contained more than 60% of such tubes 2, 3.
  
  Furthermore, as a result of the sometimes still used asbestos diaphragms in the chlorine-alkali electrolysis, we found asbestos fibres in sodium hydroxide (1.3 millions of fibres of the critical length in an 1N solution) as well as in substances produced by using sodium hydroxide.
  
  So a usable solution of a commercially available liquid detergent contained about 2.8 millions of asbestos per litre.
  
  The health hazard by asbestos orally taken in with liquids is negligible 3, 4. So in the past it was assumed that asbestos fibres in drinking water from erosion of the asbestos-containing cement pipes caused no danger. After a lengthy use, water from old asbestos-cement pipes may contain considerable amounts.
  
  American studies 2, 3quote numbers in the range of 100 000 up to 170 millions asbestos fibres/l drinking water. Up to 11 million fibres/l are found in drinking water in some regions of Germany [5].
  
  However, the quoted literature does not contain any information about the portion of these fibres in the critical range for human health (5 μm<l<100 μm; d≤2 μm). in spite of the low direct hazard from asbestos in drinking water one can theoretically imagine a scenario where a hazard could arise:
  
  there are only few published results of investigations about asbestos fibres on textiles. but a paper by chatfield [6]showed detectable contamination under specific conditions.
  
  the working hypothesis for minimizing the residual risk was as follows: the adhesion between asbestos and textile fibres is favoured by the electrostatic attraction between the positively charged asbestos fibres and the textile fibres with negative surface charges. by changing the charge distributions, i.e. same charges of the adhesion partners, the attraction forces decrease, leading to smaller adhesion between asbestos and fabric.
  
  Section Snippets
  
  Laundering experiments with asbestos fibres
  
  table 3 and fig. 2, respectively, show the influence of ultrasonic treatments on the size distribution of asbestos dispersions. table 4 presents the results of `blind' laundering experiments in the model washer without textile fabric.
  
  An exactly known small amount of asbestos fibres was dispersed in the bath. This amount was more than 100 times higher than the average asbestos pollution in drinking water or in solutions of household chemicals, as prescribed in the literature or found in our own summary and conclusions.
  
  Asbestos fibres are found in drinking water or household chemicals in spite of the prohibition of its use for more than 10 years. These fibres can contaminate textiles during laundering.
  
  By contaminating and laundering experiments in solutions polluted by asbestos or by a asbestos-like model substance, it could be shown that deposition takes place on cotton fabric. During the laundering with anionic detergents, the positive surface potential of both the asbestos and the modified model fibre ...
  

On 2023-03-07 by Jesús - What happens to asbestos fibers after evaporative drying?

Thank you very much for your answer!

Sorry for the language barrier.

I wasn't just referring to the water left in the bath or shower.
It also remains in clothes washed with that water. What happens to asbestos fibers after evaporative drying?
Same for glasses, plates, etc... .

Also for the water with which the floor of the whole house is cleaned and also dried by evaporation.

There are probably no studies for it. But taking into account the high amount of fiber in the water considered "acceptable", it is something that could be interesting to assess.

Thanks once again.

On 2023-03-07 by InspectApedia Editor - what is the level of hazard of asbestos deposited on textiles & of laundering such fabrics?

@Jesús,

We agree, Thank you for your interesting question.

Don't worry about the language barrier - right now, I am writing from our home in Mexico.

Here we continue to search for studies on this subject.

For example:

• Webber, James S., Samuel Syrotynski, and Murray Vernon King. "Asbestos-contaminated drinking water: its impact on household air." Environmental research 46, no. 2 (1988): 153-167.
  
  Asbestos contamination in excess of 10 billion fibers per liter was detected in a community's drinking water. To assess the possibility of waterborne asbestos becoming airborne, air samples were collected from impacted houses receiving contaminated water from three control houses. Collected within each house were three samples on 0.6-μm-pore Nuclepore filters and three samples on 0.8-μm-pore Millipore filters. In addition, bulk samples of suspect material and water samples were collected. Mean waterborne asbestos concentrations were 24 million fibers per liter (MFL) in the impacted houses versus only 1.1 MFL in the control houses.
  
  Transmission electron microscopy revealed that airborne asbestos concentrations were highest in impacted houses, with airborne asbestos concentrations positively correlated with waterborne concentrations.
  
  For fiber and mass measurements on both filter types, airborne asbestos concentrations were significantly higher in the impacted houses: mean concentrations in impacted houses were 0.12 fibers/cm3 and 1.7 ng/m3 on Nuclepore filters and 0.053 fibers/cm3 and 2.3 ng/m3 on Millipore filters versus only 0.037 fibers/cm3 and 0.31 ng/m3 on Nuclepore filters and 0.0077 fibers/cm3 and 0.14 ng/m3 on Millipore filters from control houses.
  
  Also detected in the air samples from impacted houses were clusters of chrysotile, often with several hundreds of fibers. When estimates of these individual fibers were added to the total fiber count, the difference between the impacted and control houses became even greater.
  
  The increased concentrations in impacted houses were due primarily to short (<1 μm) fibers. Bulk samples did not reveal likely materials within the impacted houses to account for these differences.
  
  Thus high levels of waterborne asbestos were apparently the source of increased concentrations of airborne asbestos within these houses.

• Kaplan, David E. "Unregulated Disposal Of Asbestos Contaminated Shower Water Effluent: A Question Of Public Health Risk." Journal Of Environmental Health (1993): 6-8.
  

• Chatfield, Eric J., ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES AND STANDARDIZATION FOR ASBESTOS FIBER COUNTING IN AIR, WATER, AND SOLID SAMPLES [PDF] In Proceedings of the NBS/EPA Asbestos Standards Workshop, Gaithersburg, Maryland. NBS Special Publication, vol. 619, p. 91. 1982. Fuente: https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/SP/nbsspecialpublication619.pdf#page=101
  
  Abstract
  
  Interlaboratory analyses of air, water and mineral samples for asbestos fibers have shown much variability. Sources of error in this type of analysis include fiber losses or size modification during sample preparation, contamination by extraneous fibers, non-uniform deposition on analytical filters, differences between operators in fiber counting philosophy, and use of different criteria for fiber identification.
  
  The lack of suitable reliable standard samples has also confused efforts to incorporate good controls when analytical work has been split between several laboratories.
  
  Interlaboratory distribution of aqueous fiber dispersions for analysis has been found to be particularly difficult, and in several studies has resulted in a very wide range of reported concentrations from the same sample.
  
  The published EPA interim procedures for determination of asbestos in air and water samples do not specify in detail the topics of fiber identification or fiber counting philosophy.
  
  Morphology, selected area electron diffraction, and energy dispersive x-ray analysis, used either separately or in combination can provide adequate fiber identification, depending on prior knowledge about the sample.
  
  However, economic considerations usually prevent classification of every fiber into its precise mineralogical species. A fiber classification system is proposed which provides a basis for uniform reporting of fiber counting data; some aspects of specimen preparation and fiber counting techniques area also discussed.
  

and finally for now

• Hallenbeck, William H., Carolyn S. Hesse, Edwin H. Chen, Kusum Patel-Mandlik, and Arthur H. Wolff. "Asbestos in potable water." (1977).
  a copy here - https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/92594
  

On 2023-03-08 by Jesús - it is clear that there is an impact on the air depending on the [level of asbestos] fibers in the water.

Greetings from Spain! Thanks for translating the article.

The result of the study seems logical, and it is clear that there is an impact on the air depending on the fibers in the water.

I want to congratulate you for your interest in responding to the comments and for the excellent information that this page provides.
Congratulations!

On 2023-03-08 by (mod) (DF)

@Jesús,

Thanks for your generous words. Working together helps both of us.

Thank you again for an interesting question - one that merits further research but from the numbers we have at hand. - Editor DF

Saludos

Daniel F.

Research Summary: Asbestos Hazards from Asbestos in Water

• 16 CFR Chapter 11, CONSUMER PRODUCTS CONTAININ ASBESTOS, ADVANCE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING [PDF] U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, CPSC, U.S. Federal Register, Vol. 44. No 201, 17 October 1979, Proposed Rules, 60057. This document cites a long list of consumer products that contained asbestos.
• Archer, S. R., and T. R. Blackwood. Status assessment of toxic chemicals: asbestos. Vol. 1. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory, 1979. In this text, table 4. U.S. Asbestos Uses (3)
  This book is available as a free e-book via Google Play. Link:
  https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=U57ObCey-wcC&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PP1
  
  
• Avataneo, Chiara, Jasmine R. Petriglieri, Silvana Capella, Maura Tomatis, Mariagrazia Luiso, Giuliana Marangoni, Elisa Lazzari et al. "CHRYSOTILE ASBESTOS MIGRATION IN AIR FROM CONTAMINATED WATER: AN EXPERIMENTAL SIMULATION." [PDF] Journal of Hazardous Materials 424 (2022): 127528.
• Avataneo, Chiara, Jasmine R. Petriglieri, Silvana Capella, Maura Tomatis, Mariagrazia Luiso, Giuliana Marangoni, Elisa Lazzari et al. "MIGRACIÓN DE AMIANTO CRISOTILO EN EL AIRE DESDE AGUA CONTAMINADA: UNA SIMULACIÓN EXPERIMENTAL". Revista de materiales peligrosos 424 (2022): 127528.
• Berndt, Michael E., and William C. Brice. "The origins of public concern with taconite and human health: Reserve Mining and the asbestos case." Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 52, no. 1 (2008): S31-S39.
• Cook, P.M.; Glass, G.E.; & Tucker, J.H. Asbestiform Amphibole Minerals: Detec- tion and Measurement of High Concen- trations in Municipal Water Supplies. ScL, 185:853 (1974).
• Cunningham, H. M., and R. D. Pontefract. "Asbestos fibres in beverages and drinking water." Nature 232, no. 5309 (1971): 332-333.
• EPA ASBESTOS HAZARD ADVICE EPA NIOSH [PDF] Original source: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-01/documents/append.pdf
• EPA: ASBESTOS IN YOUR HOME U.S. EPA, Exposure Evaluation Division, Office of Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington,D.C. 20460
• EPA ASBESTOS MATERIALS BAN: CLARIFICATION 1999
• EPA CONSEJO SOBRE EL RIESGO DE ASBESTOS EPA NIOSH [PDF] original: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-01/documents/append.pdf copia en InspectApedia
• EPA GUIDELINES FOR ENHANCED MANAGEMENT OF ASBESTOS IN WATER AT ORDERED DEMOLITIONS EPA 453-B-16-002A [PDF]
• EPA, NATIONAL PRIMARY DRINKING WATER REGULATIONS [PDF] original source: https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/national-primary-drinking-water-regulations#one
• EPA de EE. UU., REGLAMENTOS NACIONALES PRIMARIOS DE AGUA POTABLE [PDF] fuente original: https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/national-primary-drinking-water-regulations#one
• Gross, Paul, Russell A. Harley, Layinka Margaret Swinburne, John MG Davis, and William B. Greene. "Ingested mineral fibers: Do they penetrate tissue or cause cancer?." Archives of Environmental Health: An International Journal 29, no. 6 (1974): 341-347.
• Grosse, Ingrid, Barbara Huetter, Ingrid Hartmann, Gisela Binde, Harald Gruber, and Gottfried Kurz. "Asbestos on textiles: is there an endangering during washing and wearing?." Journal of hazardous materials 63, no. 2-3 (1998): 119-130.
• Hallenbeck, W. H., and C. S. Hesse. "A review of the health effects of ingested asbestos." Reviews on environmental health 2, no. 3 (1977): 157-166.
• Hayward, S.B. Field Monitoring of Chrys- otile Asbestos in California Waters. Jour. AWWA , 76:3:66 (Mar. 1984)
• Langston, Nancy. THE WISCONSIN EXPERIMENT [PDF] Places Journal (2017). [Website article] retrieved 2017/08/12, original source: https://placesjournal.org/article/the-wisconsin-experiment/
  Excerpt:
  
  Asbestos fibers can also contaminate the water. Beginning in 1956, an enormous taconite processing facility owned by Reserve Mining Company began dumping tailings directly into Lake Superior. After decades of lawsuits, the operation was shut down, but not before dumping 400 million tons of waste. Asbestiform fibers were dispersed throughout a third of the lake, eventually reaching Duluth, where the drinking water had over 100 billion fibers per liter.
  
  Editor's Note: see Levy (1976) & Sigurdson (1981, 1983) giving results of long term health effects of asbestos fibers in the drinking water of Duluth MN.
• LeFevre, M. E., R. Hammer, and D. D. Joel. "Macrophages of the mammalian small intestine: a review." RES, J. Reticuloendothel. Soc.;(United States) 26, no. 5 (1979).
  
• Levy, Barry S., Eunice Sigurdson, Jack Mandel, Emaline Laudon, and John Pearson. "Investigating possible effects of asbestos in city water: surveillance of gastrointestinal cancer incidence in Duluth, Minnesota." American journal of epidemiology 103, no. 4 (1976): 362-368.
  Abstract:
  
  The recent discovery of over one million asbestos-like fibers per liter of Duluth tap water and the suggestive evidence of a link between certain gastrointestinal (GI) cancers and work exposure to asbestos fibers in the air prompted this study. GI cancer incidence data were gathered for Duluth in the same manner as data previously gathered for comparison cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul
  
  Although some differences in GI cancer incidence occurred among the three cities in 1969–1971, there was no consistent pattern of statistically significant differences observed.
  
  The number of GI cancers diagnosed in Duluth residents in 1972 was similar to that in each of the previous three years. This study represents the start of ongoing cancer surveillance in Duluth.
• McCabe, L.J. & Millette, J.R. Health Effects and Prevalence of Asbestos Fibers in Drinking Water. Proc. 1979 AWWA Ann. Conf., San Francisco, California
• McGuire, M.J.; Bowers, A.E.; & Bowers, D.A. Asbestos Analysis Case History: Surface Water Supplies in Southern California. Jour. AWWA, 74:9:470 (Sept. 1982).
• McMillan, Lilia M., Roy G. Stout, and Benjamin F. Willey. "Asbestos in raw and treated water: an electron microscopy study." Environmental Science & Technology 11, no. 4 (1977): 390-394.
• Millette, J.R. et al. Asbestos in Water Supplies of the United States. Environ. Health Perspectives, 53:45 (1983)
• Olson, Harold L. "Asbestos in potable-water supplies." Journal-American Water Works Association 66, no. 9 (1974): 515-518.
• Sigurdson, Eunice E. "Observations of cancer incidence surveillance in Duluth, Minnesota." Environmental health perspectives 53 (1983): 61.
  Abstract:
  
• Sigurdson, Eunice E., Barry S. Levy, Jack Mandel, Richard McHugh, Leonard J. Michienzi, Helen Jagger, and John Pearson. "Cancer morbidity investigations: lessons from the Duluth study of possible effects of asbestos in drinking water." Environmental research 25, no. 1 (1981): 50-61.
  Abstract:
  
  In 1973, 1 to 30 million asbestos-like fibers per liter of tap water were discovered in Duluth drinking water.
  
  Previous studies had linked mesothelioma, lung, and gastrointestinal cancers with occupational exposure to asbestos, so surveillance of cancer morbidity in Duluth was initiated to investigate effects from ingestion of asbestos in drinking water.
  
  Gastrointestinal and lung cancer incidence data for 1969–1974 were collected in the same manner as in the Minneapolis-St. Paul component of the Third National Cancer Survey; Duluth rates for 1969–1971 were compared with incidence rates for the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul during the same time period; and Duluth rates for 1972–1974 were compared with Duluth rates for 1969–1971.
  
  Duluth females and both sexes combined had statistically significantly higher rates of pancreatic cancer than in Minneapolis and St. Paul in 1969–1971. These rates subsequently decreased in 1972–1974 for both sexes combined in Duluth.
  
  Duluth males and both sexes combined had similar excesses for gastrointestinal tract not specified in comparison with Minneapolis and St. Paul.
  
  Duluth and Minneapolis cancer incidence rates yielded less-exaggerated differences between the two study areas compared with mortality rates. Resources required for morbidity surveillance are described.
• Toft, Peter, and M. E. Meek. "Asbestos in drinking water: a Canadian view." Environmental health perspectives 53 (1983): 177.
  Abstract:
  
  For several years now, public health professionals have been faced with evaluating the potential hazards associated with the ingestion of asbestos in food and drinking water. In Canada, this is a subject of particular concern, because of the widespread occurrence of chrysotile asbestos in drinking water supplies.
  
  The results of available Canadian monitoring and epidemiologic studies of asbestos in drinking water are reviewed and discussed in light of other published work.
  
  It is concluded that the risk to health associated with the ingestion of asbestos, at the levels found in municipal drinking water supplies, is so small that it cannot be detected by currently available epidemiologic techniques.
• WA, "Asbestos in Your Home," Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority, Spokane WA 509-477-4727 www.scapa.org provides a one-page image, a .pdf file drawing of a house warning of some possible sources of asbestos in the home. The sources are not ranked according to actual risk of releasing hazardous levels of airborne asbestos fibers and the list is useful but incomplete.
• Webber, James S., Samuel Syrotynski, and Murray Vernon King. ASBESTOS-CONTAMINATED DRINKING WATER: ITS IMPACT ON HOUSEHOLD AIR [PDF] Environmental research 46, no. 2 (1988): 153-167.
  
  Abstract:
  High concentrations of asbestos were found in the water supply system of Woodstock, N.Y., following a routine pipe-tapping operation in the fall of 1985.
  
  Analysis of a water sample collected 10 days after tapping showed asbestos concentrations in excess of 104 million fibers per litre (MFL).
  
  The source of this asbestos was asbestos-cement (AC) pipe, which was so deteriorated that sections of pipe could be easily broken by hand. Although asbestos concentrations decreased rapidly as AC pipe was removed from the system, concentrations as high as 49 MFL were measured during the summer of 1986.
  
  Throughout the sampling period, even when concentrations fell below 1 MFL, Woodstock water samples were characterized by fibers with much larger lengths, widths, and masses than those collected in nonproblem areas across New York state.
  
  Excerpts:
  
  In December 1985 the authors received a washing-machine strainer that had reportedly been removed from service two years earlier. The strainer was matted was matted with chrysotile and crocidolite. - p. 84
  
  Pulmonary exposure to asbestos, an unequivocally carcinogenic combination, cannot be overlooked in cases in which drinking water is grossly contaminated.
  
  Increased levels of airborne asbestos were found in Woodstock homes, ¹⁵ but fortunately the increase in these levels did not raise the fiber count above background levels as measured in urban environments. Furthermore, most of the increase was composed of fibers shorter than 1um.
  
  The Woodstock data show that the fiber concentration in a single water sample is not always a reliable indicator of a contamination problem. For example, even though two samples (E and F) were collected less than 1 km apart Jan. 10, 1986, waterborne asbestos concentra- tions differed by more than three orders of magnitude.
• [15] Webber, J.S.; Syrotynski, b.; & king, M.V. Asbestos-Contaminated Drinking Water: Its Impact on Household Air. Envir. Res., 46:153 (1988)
  
  Abstract
  
  Asbestos contamination in excess of 10 billion fibers per liter was detected in a community's drinking water. To assess the possibility of waterborne asbestos becoming airborne, air samples were collected from impacted houses receiving contaminated water from three control houses.
  
  Collected within each house were three samples on 0.6-micrometer-pore Nuclepore filters and three samples on 0.8-micrometer-pore Millipore filters. In addition, bulk samples of suspect material and water samples were collected.
  
  Mean waterborne asbestos concentrations were 24 million fibers per liter (MFL) in the impacted houses versus only 1.1 MFL in the control houses. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that airborne asbestos concentrations were highest in impacted houses, with airborne asbestos concentrations positively correlated with waterborne concentrations.
  
  For fiber and mass measurements on both filter types, airborne asbestos concentrations were significantly higher in the impacted houses: mean concentrations in impacted houses were 0.12 fibers/cm3 and 1.7 ng/m3 on Nuclepore filters and 0.053 fibers/cm3 and 2.3 ng/m3 on Millipore filters versus only 0.037 fibers/cm3 and 0.31 ng/m3 on Nuclepore filters and 0.0077 fibers/cm3 and 0.14 ng/m3 on Millipore filters from control houses.
  
  Also detected in the air samples from impacted houses were clusters of chrysotile, often with several hundreds of fibers.
  
  When estimates of these individual fibers were added to the total fiber count, the difference between the impacted and control houses became even greater. The increased concentrations in impacted houses were due primarily to short (less than 1 micrometer) fibers.
  
  Bulk samples did not reveal likely materials within the impacted houses to account for these differences.
  
  Thus high levels of waterborne asbestos were apparently the source of increased concentrations of airborne asbestos within these houses.

...

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