1
|
Gualtieri AF, Gandolfi NB, Pollastri S, Rinaldi R, Sala O, Martinelli G, Bacci T, Paoli F, Viani A, Vigliaturo R. Assessment of the potential hazard represented by natural raw materials containing mineral fibres-The case of the feldspar from Orani, Sardinia (Italy). J Hazard Mater 2018; 350:76-87. [PMID: 29453122 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.02.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2017] [Revised: 02/01/2018] [Accepted: 02/04/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
This work describes the nature of the potentially hazardous fibrous amphibole found in the Orani's feldspar mine (Sardinia, Italy). To identify its nature, a protocol of analysis including morphometric, chemical and crystallographic characterizations was applied. Thanks to this approach, it was possible to classify the observed fibres as tremolite after comparing chemical data, SEM/TEM observations, FTIR/ Raman spectra and X-ray diffraction data with those reported for a standard sample. The unit cell parameters of the investigated tremolite phase are a = 9.82(1) Å, b = 18.08(3) Å, c = 5.27(1) Å, and the angle β corresponds to 104.4(1)°. The mean concentration of asbestos tremolite in the Orani's feldspar is 0.28 wt%. Most of the fibres (0.26 wt%) are respirable 'regulated' fibres, representing a potential hazard. Because the total amount of tremolite in the sample is 0.6 wt%, a large fraction of it has a crystal habit other than fibrous-asbestiform or acicular. The obtained results allowed us to suggest possible solutions for a safe exploitation and mineral processing of the Orani's mine. The procedure proposed herein may be a general tool suitable to identify the mineralogical nature of fibrous minerals in raw materials and assess if they may represent a potential health/environmental hazard.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro F Gualtieri
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, Modena, I-41125, Italy.
| | - Nicola Bursi Gandolfi
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, Modena, I-41125, Italy
| | - Simone Pollastri
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, Modena, I-41125, Italy
| | - Roberta Rinaldi
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, Modena, I-41125, Italy
| | - Orietta Sala
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, Modena, I-41125, Italy
| | - Giovanni Martinelli
- A.R.P.A.e Emilia Romagna, Sezione Provinciale di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, I-42122, Italy
| | - Tiziana Bacci
- A.R.P.A.e Emilia Romagna, Sezione Provinciale di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, I-42122, Italy
| | - Federica Paoli
- A.R.P.A.e Emilia Romagna, Sezione Provinciale di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, I-42122, Italy
| | - Alberto Viani
- Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Centre of Excellence Telč, Batelovská 485, Telč, CZ-58856, Czech Republic
| | - Ruggero Vigliaturo
- Laboratory for Material Chemistry, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Gualtieri AF, Pollastri S, Bursi Gandolfi N, Gualtieri ML. In vitro acellular dissolution of mineral fibres: A comparative study. Sci Rep 2018; 8:7071. [PMID: 29728675 PMCID: PMC5935704 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-25531-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2018] [Accepted: 04/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The study of the mechanisms by which mineral fibres promote adverse effects in both animals and humans is a hot topic of multidisciplinary research with many aspects that still need to be elucidated. Besides length and diameter, a key parameter that determines the toxicity/pathogenicity of a fibre is biopersistence, one component of which is biodurability. In this paper, biodurability of mineral fibres of social and economic importance (chrysotile, amphibole asbestos and fibrous erionite) has been determined for the first time in a systematic comparative way from in vitro acellular dissolution experiments. Dissolution was possible using the Gamble solution as simulated lung fluid (pH = 4 and at body temperature) so to reproduce the macrophage phagolysosome environment. The investigated mineral fibres display very different dissolution rates. For a 0.25 μm thick fibre, the calculated dissolution time of chrysotile is in the range 94–177 days, very short if compared to that of amphibole fibres (49–245 years), and fibrous erionite (181 years). Diffraction and SEM data on the dissolution products evidence that chrysotile rapidly undergoes amorphization with the formation of a nanophasic silica-rich fibrous metastable pseudomorph as first dissolution step whereas amphibole asbestos and fibrous erionite show minor signs of dissolution even after 9–12 months.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro F Gualtieri
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
| | - Simone Pollastri
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Nicola Bursi Gandolfi
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | | |
Collapse
|
3
|
Gualtieri AF, Bursi Gandolfi N, Pollastri S, Burghammer M, Tibaldi E, Belpoggi F, Pollok K, Langenhorst F, Vigliaturo R, Dražić G. New insights into the toxicity of mineral fibres: A combined in situ synchrotron μ-XRD and HR-TEM study of chrysotile, crocidolite, and erionite fibres found in the tissues of Sprague-Dawley rats. Toxicol Lett 2017; 274:20-30. [DOI: 10.1016/j.toxlet.2017.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2017] [Revised: 03/09/2017] [Accepted: 04/10/2017] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
|
4
|
Gualtieri AF, Gandolfi NB, Pollastri S, Pollok K, Langenhorst F. Where is iron in erionite? A multidisciplinary study on fibrous erionite-Na from Jersey (Nevada, USA). Sci Rep 2016; 6:37981. [PMID: 27892512 PMCID: PMC5125093 DOI: 10.1038/srep37981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2016] [Accepted: 10/31/2016] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Fibrous erionite is a mineral fibre of great concern but to date mechanisms by which it induces cyto- and geno-toxic damage, and especially the role of iron associated to this zeolite species, remain poorly understood. One of the reasons is that we still don't know exactly where iron is in natural erionite. This work is focused on fibrous erionite-Na from Jersey (Nevada, USA) and attempts to draw a general model of occurrence of iron in erionite and relationship with toxicity mechanisms. It was found that iron is present as 6-fold coordinated Fe3+ not part of the zeolite structure. The heterogeneous nature of the sample was revealed as receptacle of different iron-bearing impurities (amorphous iron-rich nanoparticles, micro-particles of iron oxides/hydroxides, and flakes of nontronite). If iron is not part of the structure, its role should be considered irrelevant for erionite toxicity, and other factors like biopersistence should be invoked. An alternative perspective to the proposed model is that iron rich nano-particles and nontronite dissolve in the intracellular acidic environment, leaving a residue of iron atoms at specific surface sites anchored to the windows of the zeolite channels. These sites may be active later as low nuclearity groups.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro F Gualtieri
- Chemistry and Earth Sciences Department, The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, I-41125 Modena (Italy)
| | - Nicola Bursi Gandolfi
- Chemistry and Earth Sciences Department, The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, I-41125 Modena (Italy)
| | - Simone Pollastri
- Chemistry and Earth Sciences Department, The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, I-41125 Modena (Italy)
| | - Kilian Pollok
- Institut für Geowissenschaften Mineralogie, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Carl-Zeiss-Promenade 10, D-07745 Jena (Germany)
| | - Falko Langenhorst
- Institut für Geowissenschaften Mineralogie, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Carl-Zeiss-Promenade 10, D-07745 Jena (Germany)
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Gandolfi NB, Gualtieri AF, Pollastri S, Tibaldi E, Belpoggi F. Assessment of asbestos body formation by high resolution FEG-SEM after exposure of Sprague-Dawley rats to chrysotile, crocidolite, or erionite. J Hazard Mater 2016; 306:95-104. [PMID: 26705886 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2015.11.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2015] [Revised: 11/23/2015] [Accepted: 11/24/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
This work presents a comparative FEG-SEM study of the morphological and chemical characteristics of both asbestos bodies and fibres found in the tissues of Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to intraperitoneal or intrapleural injection of UICC chrysotile, UICC crocidolite and erionite from Jersey, Nevada (USA), with monitoring up to 3 years after exposure. Due to unequal dosing based on number of fibres per mass for chrysotile with respect to crocidolite and erionite, excessive fibre burden and fibre aggregation during injection that especially for chrysotile would likely not represent what humans would be exposed to, caution must be taken in extrapolating our results based on instillation in experimental animals to human inhalation. Notwithstanding, the results of this study may help to better understand the mechanism of formation of asbestos bodies. For chrysotile and crocidolite, asbestos bodies are systematically formed on long asbestos fibres. The number of coated fibres is only 3.3% in chrysotile inoculated tissues. In UICC crocidolite, Mg, Si, and Fe are associated with the fibres whereas Fe, P and Ca are associated with the coating. Even for crocidolite, most of the observed fibres are uncoated as coated fibres are about 5.7%. Asbestos bodies do not form on erionite fibres. The crystal habit, crystallinity and chemistry of all fibre species do not change with contact time, with the exception of chrysotile which shows signs of leaching of Mg. A model for the formation of asbestos bodies from mineral fibres is postulated. Because the three fibre species show limited signs of dissolution in the tissue, they cannot act as source of elements (primarily Fe, P and Ca) promoting nucleation and growth of asbestos bodies. Hence, the limited number of coated fibres should be due to the lack of nutrients or organic nature.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Bursi Gandolfi
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, I-41125 Modena, Italy
| | - Alessandro F Gualtieri
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, I-41125 Modena, Italy.
| | - Simone Pollastri
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 103, I-41125 Modena, Italy
| | - Eva Tibaldi
- Cancer Research Centre, European Ramazzini Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences, Castello di Bentivoglio, Via Saliceto 3, Bologna, Italy
| | - Fiorella Belpoggi
- Cancer Research Centre, European Ramazzini Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences, Castello di Bentivoglio, Via Saliceto 3, Bologna, Italy
| |
Collapse
|