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6870645 
Journal Article 
Abstract 
Fate of asbestos in soil: remediation prospects and paradigm 
Willenbring, J; Mohanty, S; Salamatipour, A; Gonneau, C; Jerolmack, D; Casper, B 
2016 
No 
Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society
ISSN: 0065-7727 
252 
25 
English 
WOS:000431460404643 
Asbestos, in soil, can undergo physical and chemical changes that alter toxicity and remobilize fibers into the environment. Decreased length of the fibers can increase potential for inhalation. The iron content of the fibers exerts a first-order control on toxicity, through the production of reactive oxygen species. Natural soil environments and geo-engineered soil caps often contain exudates of fungi, bacteria, and plants such as organic acids, siderophone compounds, and dissolved organic matter that alter the surface charge and chemistry of the fibers. We find that siderophore exudates, in particular, increase the removal of both surface and structural iron from Chrysotile asbestos fibers. Other soil conditions such as ionic strength, pH, and dissolved organic carbon vary from soil to soil and may impact the surface charge of the asbestos fibers allowing them to move through soil. In this paper, we document the mobility of asbestos fibers through soil in the presence of dissolved organic matter (fulvic acid). The transformation of the fibers by organic matter leads to charge reversal of asbestos fibers (from positive to negative) that lowers the attachment of asbestos fibers to soil grains. This result challenges the long-standing paradigm that asbestos fibers are immobile in soil and highlights the need to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of current remediation strategies that do not account for possible asbestos alteration and exposure via near- and sub-surface water flow. 
252nd National ACS Meeting 
Philadelphia, PA 
August 17-25, 2016