Asbestos containing materials in schools of Rome and surrounding area (Italy).

Despite Italy banning use and production of asbestos in 1992, it continues to represent a risk to human health due to its permanence in the places where it was located. The aim of this work is to estimate how many schools in Rome (Italy) have asbestos containing materials (ACM), and to assess whether the location, condition and nature of ACM can influence the level of risk for student health. 3,672 schools were contacted and 1,451 participated to asbestos survey.

Biosolubility of high temperature insulation wools in simulated lung fluids.

Objective: Biosolubility is an important parameter in the understanding of mechanisms involved in pulmonary toxicity of fibrous materials. It can be studied in vitro using models of simulated lung fluids and observing the loss of structural molecules, expressed as dissolution constant (K). The aim of this paper was the study of dissolution behaviour of four wools belonging to high temperature insulation wools (HTIW) in saline solutions simulating lung fluids.