Leaching of metals from asbestos-containing products used for roofing

• Published in: Gospodarka surowcami mineralnymi Vol. 37; no. 3; p. 111
• Main Authors: Klojzy-Karczmarczyk, Beata, Mazurek, Janusz, Staszczak, Jarosław
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Warsaw Polish Academy of Sciences 01.01.2021
• Subjects: Aluminum; Asbestos; Asbestos cement; Barium; Boron; Cadmium; Cement; Chromium; Copper; Corrugated sheet; Distilled water; Hazardous materials; Hazardous wastes; Heavy metals; Iron; Laboratory tests; Leaching; Lead; Mercury; Mercury (metal); Metals; Nickel; Pollutants; Roofing; Sewage; Sewerage; Sheets; Strontium; Zinc
• ISSN: 0860-0953; 2299-2324
• DOI: 10.24425/gsm.2021.138662

Asbestos cement sheets on building roofs and façades as well as asbestos cement water and sewerage pipes are the most frequently existing elements that contain asbestos in Poland. During removal from a specific building such a material automatically becomes hazardous waste. The presented paper covers studies carried out on leachability of pollutants from asbestos-containing waste, previously used for roofing. Laboratory tests under static conditions were carried out (1:10 test, pursuant to rules of the PN-EN 12457/1-4 standard) using distilled water as the leaching medium. Aluminium, boron, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, nickel, lead, strontium, zinc, and mercury were determined in the eluate. Low leachability of individual metals under the planned conditions was observed. In general, such metals as cadmium, nickel, lead, zinc, boron and mercury were not observed in solutions. The other analysed metals were observed in eluates, but their concentrations were usually low. The low leachability was found for barium (0.019 to 0.419 mg/dm3), chromium (0.019 to 0.095 mg/dm3), copper (0.006 to 0.019 mg/dm3), and iron (<0.01 to 0.017 mg/dm3). Increased leachability values were found only for strontium, between 0.267 and 4.530 mg/dm3, and aluminium, ranging from 0.603 to 3.270 mg/dm3. The analysed asbestos and cement materials feature a low percentage content of asbestos in flat and corrugated asbestos cement sheets (10–15%). Because of that it is possible to presume that pollutants characteristic of cement will be mainly present in products of leaching.