Version 1
: Received: 6 August 2024 / Approved: 7 August 2024 / Online: 7 August 2024 (07:02:49 CEST)
How to cite:
Hernández, M.; Pereira, D.; Bloise, A. Unravelling Asbestos: Steps on the Descriptive Study of Health Issues Derived from Fibrous Minerals towards the Communication to the Society. Preprints2024, 2024080484. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0484.v1
Hernández, M.; Pereira, D.; Bloise, A. Unravelling Asbestos: Steps on the Descriptive Study of Health Issues Derived from Fibrous Minerals towards the Communication to the Society. Preprints 2024, 2024080484. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0484.v1
Hernández, M.; Pereira, D.; Bloise, A. Unravelling Asbestos: Steps on the Descriptive Study of Health Issues Derived from Fibrous Minerals towards the Communication to the Society. Preprints2024, 2024080484. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0484.v1
APA Style
Hernández, M., Pereira, D., & Bloise, A. (2024). Unravelling Asbestos: Steps on the Descriptive Study of Health Issues Derived from Fibrous Minerals towards the Communication to the Society. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0484.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Hernández, M., Dolores Pereira and Andrea Bloise. 2024 "Unravelling Asbestos: Steps on the Descriptive Study of Health Issues Derived from Fibrous Minerals towards the Communication to the Society" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202408.0484.v1
Abstract
Asbestos, also known by its commercial name of amianthus, has been a widely used material in various industries due to its unique properties. However, its extensive use has led to serious consequences for human health, most notably asbestosis, an irreversible chronic lung disease. Asbestosis increases the risk of lung cancer and malignant meso-thelioma both fatal diseases. To understand the role of asbestos in human health, applied sciences such as microscopy (optical and scanning electron microscopy) and geochemistry are fundamental to characterize the mineral fibers. In previous work we used these technics to characterize the fibers and, in this paper, we explore their issues associated with asbestos and asbestosis, as well as the challenges of science communication strategies to effectively inform society and workers about these risks. The lack of scientific culture, in general, leads to the lack of public awareness of risks, and to address these challenges, it is essential to implement effective communication and outreach plans and strategies, including the visualization of the fibers to understand why there may be a problem if inhaled. Educational campaigns, guidelines and plans that are informative and action-able, targeting workers, communities and the public about asbestos risks are very im-portant. General knowledge of mineralogy and geochemistry is needed and providing proper scientific communication and dissemination may help to cover the knowledge gap. We use examples and experience in Spain and Italy to illustrate this subject.
Public Health and Healthcare, Public, Environmental and Occupational Health
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
