Results of a survey on asbestos fibre contamination of drinking water in Tuscany, Italy

The extent of asbestos contamination in drinking water and its relationship with water aggressiveness in the distribution network in Tuscany was investigated. Fifty-nine samples of drinking water were collected and analysed for asbestos content by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray dispersive microprobe. Every sample was also analysed to determine water aggressiveness. Asbestos fibres were detected in 24% of samples, at concentrations which were always lower than 0.04 million fibres/L. In 79% of these samples, asbestos fibres could have been released into the water from asbestos-cement pipes; in the remaining 21% they may have originated from asbestos-containing aquifers. 43% of the waters were non-aggressive, 54% moderately aggressive and 3% highly aggressive. Samples of aggressive water taken from asbestos-cement pipes were too few to determine any significant correlation between aggressiveness of drinking water and release of asbestos fibres from asbestos-cement pipes.