Chrysotile asbestos in serpentinite quarries: a case study in Valmalenco, Central Alps, Northern Italy

Cavallo, Alessandro; Rimoldi, B

doi:10.1039/c3em00193h

Cited by 25 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Accurate identification and quantification of serpentinites using Rietveld refinement of PXRD data is however difficult. This is mainly due to strong superposition of the main diffraction peaks that originate from the different polymorphs of the serpentine minerals that constitute the rock. In addition, a straightforward application of the Rietveld method to poorly crystalline mixtures containing disordered phases such as chrysotile is not possible .…”

Section: Experimental Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

The variation in composition of ultramafic rocks and the effect on their suitability for carbon dioxide sequestration by mineralization following acid leaching

et al. 2014

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Carbon dioxide capture and storage by mineralization has been proposed as a possible technology to contribute to the reduction of global CO 2 levels. A main candidate as a feed material, to supply Mg cations for combination with CO 2 to form carbonate, is the family of ultramafi c rocks, Mgrich silicate rocks with a range of naturally occurring mineralogical compositions. A classifi cation scheme is described and a diagram is proposed to display the full range of both fresh and altered ultramafi c rock compositions. This is particularly for the benefi t of technologists to raise the awareness of the variation in possible feedstock materials. A systematic set of acid leaching experiments, in the presence of recyclable ammonium bisulphate, has been carried out covering the range of ultramafi c rock compositions. The results show that lizardite serpentinite releases the most Mg with 78% removed after 1 h, while an olivine rock (dunite) gave 55% and serpentinized peridotites intermediate values. Antigorite serpentinite only released 40% and pyroxene-and amphibole-rich rocks only 25%, showing they are unsuitable for the acid leaching method used. This wide variation in rock compositions highlights the necessity for accurate mineralogical characterization of potential resources and for technologists to be aware of the impact of feed material variations on process effi ciency and development. Th e basis of the process is to extract divalent cations (in this case Mg) from a feed material and combine these with CO 2 to form a stable carbonate mineral,This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifi cations or adaptations are made.

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Section: Experimental Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

The variation in composition of ultramafic rocks and the effect on their suitability for carbon dioxide sequestration by mineralization following acid leaching

et al. 2014

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“…There are areas of the Earth's crust, such as those containing ultramafic rocks, where the concentration of heavy metals is very high, leading to naturally high metal concentrations in the soils formed from them. The development of mining activities, such as quarrying, gives rise to a rapid increase in the release of heavy metals to the environment, causing serious environmental and health problems (Shallari et al, 1998;Baumann et al, 2011;Cavallo and Rimoldi, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

TOF-SIMS and FE-SEM/EDS to verify the heavy metal fractionation in serpentinite quarry soils

Arenas-Lago

Andrade

Vega

et al. 2016

CATENA

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“…The limits of the single peak method for such complex matrices were obvious to Giacomini et al (2010) who obtained only qualitative estimates of the relative abundance of serpentine polymorphs in samples from the metaophiolites of the the Voltri Massif and Sestri-Voltaggio Zone (Liguria, NW Italy), using the internal standard (20 wt% of corundum) technique and the reference intensity ratio (RIR) method (Snyder and Bish 1989). On the same line, only qualitative determination via XRPD methods were reported by Rigopoulos et al (2010) for asbestiform minerals in basic and ultrabasic rocks from ophiolite suites of central and northern Greece, Beneduce et al (2012) for the ophiolites of the Pollino National Park (Calabria-Lucania border, southern Italy), and Cavallo and Rimoldi (2013) for serpentinites of the Valmalenco are (Central Alps, Northern Italy). Puledda and Marconi (1990) assessed the validity of the XRPD external standard method with the Ag filter for synthetic mixtures prepared for the determination of chrysotile content in bulk and airborne samples but did not apply it to natural complex samples such as the one investigated here.…”

Section: Accuracy Of Results From the Various Experimental Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…The difference in the performance of the two microscopic techniques in favor of the SEM method has already been reported by Cavariani et al (2010). Cavallo and Rimoldi (2013) who studied similar matrices (asbestos serpentinite quarries in Valmalenco, Central Alps, Northern Italy) reported that the small thickness of chrysotile fibrils produced during quarrying activities, and the abundance of pseudo-fibrous antigorite cleavage fragments proved the SEM-EDS analytical procedure to be the most suitable.…”

Section: Accuracy Of Results From the Various Experimental Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Determination of the concentration of asbestos minerals in highly contaminated mine tailings: An example from abandoned mine waste of Cretaz and Emarese (Valle d'Aosta, Italy)

Gualtieri

Pollastri

Gandolfi

et al. 2014

American Mineralogist

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For the first time, this work reports concentration maps of asbestos minerals in contaminated mine tailings drawn using the results of Rietveld quantitative phase analysis (QPA). The investigated sites are located in the Valle d’Aosta region (Italy): Crètaz, the most important Italian magnetite mine, active until 1979 and Emarèse, one the most important chrysotile asbestos mines in Italy, active until 1968. The results of the study permit to draw the spatial distribution of the asbestos (chrysotile and tremolite in this specific case) concentration, useful to plan reclamation of the sites, with priority given to the areas with the highest asbestos concentration. Because of the complexity of the mineral assemblage, which includes, among the others, antigorite, chlorite, talc, and tremolite, the concentration of chrysotile was cross-checked using different experimental techniques such as X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), polarized light optical microscopy (PCOM), and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The accuracy of the results was validated by analyzing standard samples with known concentrations of chrysotile and tremolite. The comparison allowed to point out the advantages and disadvantages of each experimental method.\ud \ud At Crètaz, chrysotile ranges from 4.4 to 22.8 wt% and tremolite from 1.0 to 10.3 wt%, whereas at Emarèse the concentration of chrysotile varies from 3.3 to 39.5 wt% and tremolite from 5.9 to 12.4 wt%. Antigorite and chlorite are the major accompanying phases with variable amounts of other accessory minerals including magnetite, carbonates, talc, olivine, pyroxene, talc, and brucite. The results of our study are of key importance for the local environmental policies as the knowledge of the spatial distribution of the asbestos concentration allows to plan a detailed reclamation agenda of the contaminated sites. The spots with the highest surface contamination of both chrysotile and tremolite were identified and classified as priority areas in the reclamation plan

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Chrysotile asbestos in serpentinite quarries: a case study in Valmalenco, Central Alps, Northern Italy

Cited by 25 publications

References 34 publications

The variation in composition of ultramafic rocks and the effect on their suitability for carbon dioxide sequestration by mineralization following acid leaching

The variation in composition of ultramafic rocks and the effect on their suitability for carbon dioxide sequestration by mineralization following acid leaching

TOF-SIMS and FE-SEM/EDS to verify the heavy metal fractionation in serpentinite quarry soils

Determination of the concentration of asbestos minerals in highly contaminated mine tailings: An example from abandoned mine waste of Cretaz and Emarese (Valle d'Aosta, Italy)

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