SAFE REMOVAL OF UNDERGROUND ASBESTOS-CEMENT WATER PIPES

Abstract

- Today, there are many countries around the world that have banned the asbestos for its carcinogenic nature of inhalable fibres. Italy was among the first European countries to ban asbestos, with Law 257/1992, and was among the first to issue technical sector regulations for the protection of workers and living environments. The technical characteristics of this substance, together with its low cost, led to the creation of different mixtures and the processing and production of over three thousand types of products containing asbestos with content varying from 10% to 99% in weight. These products included Asbestos Cement Pipes (ACPs), used for decades for civil and military purposes. ACP are not in themselves a primary source of danger to public health when underground, intact and still in place, insofar as the main asbestos-related health risk is inhalation. Cement asbestos pipes can however generate situations of risk when they are subject to removal or maintenance that involves their partial or total exposure to ambient air with the possible dispersion of fibres into the air. The paper shows a systematic set of procedures and indications to be followed for the safe removal of underground pipes in ACM in order to ensure maximum protection of workers and the living environment surrounding the area of operations. These procedures may be subject to periodic updating on the base of feedback following their application. These procedures were developed because of the need to provide precise guidelines of national reference, due to a lack of specific sector regulations.