Quantifying asbestos fibers in post-disaster situations: Preventive strategies for damage control

When buildings that contain asbestos collapse, harmful asbestos fibers can spread in large quantities. It is critical to control this scattering as quickly as possible to protect residents and workers. Rescue and recovery operations in post-disaster situations usually take a lot of time. Therefore, experiments were conducted to evaluate and control the scattering of asbestos fibers. First, the concentration of asbestos fibers released from broken pieces of asbestos cement roofing sheet (ACRS) was measured over time. Next, the broken pieces were classified into three groups (A: no coating, B: water coating; C: asbestos stabilizer coating) and the amount of asbestos fiber released over time was measured to determine the efficiency of asbestos fiber control using water and asbestos stabilizer. The concentration of asbestos fibers generated from broken ACRS was 0.162 f/cc on average. The asbestos fiber control efficiencies of water and asbestos stabilizer showed similar patterns in the early stage. However, the efficiency of the water coating rapidly decreased after 9 h, whereas the asbestos stabilizer coating showed high efficiency even after 36 h. The results of this study will contribute to the establishment of plans for protecting workers and survivors more safely in disaster sites while controlling asbestos fibers.