Mineral Health

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Mineral Health

• Principally focused on the dangers of inhalation
  of mineral dusts and the availability of
  contaminants

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Mineral dusts

• What do you think some of the dangers of mineral
  dusts might be with respect to human health?
• What mineral characteristics equate to higher
  risk?
• What processes can inject mineral dusts into the
  atmosphere and create higher risk of mineral dust
  exposure?

3
Minerals of concern

• Asbestosform minerals, have flexible fibers and
  are highly heat resistant
• Chysotile (serpentine, Mg6Si4O10(OH)8)
• Crocidolite (var. of riebeckite, an amphibole)
• Amosite (var. cummingtonite-grunerite series
  amphiboles)
• Anthophyllite (var. amphibole)
• Tremolite, actinolite (also amphibole series)
• Richterite and winchite (amphibole varieties),
  components in a vermiculite (clay) insulation
  material

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Minerals of concern

• Silica (as a-quartz, cristobalite, tridymite,
  etc.) dust
• Metal dusts (iron, magnesium, heavy metal
  sulfides and oxides)
• Coal dust
• Dusts on Moon and Mars (for astronauts / one-time
  base residents)

5
Libby, MT

• A major source of vermiculite which was laced
  with amphibole asbestisform minerals (in the
  layers of the vermiculite clay sheets)

http//pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/ofr-03-128/ofr-03-128
.html
Figure 1. Richterite fibers that grew in between
the layers of vermiculite/hydrobiotite in the
Libby, MT deposit. This photo shows the light
colored tremolite/richterite fibers after a book
of vermiculite was split apart. The image is
about 3.5 cm across.
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Libby Superfund Site

• NW corner of MT, produced 80 of the worlds
  vermiculite, used as building insulation and as a
  soil conditioner
• Dusts containing asbestisform amphiboles
  contaminate entire town, free isulation in many
  homes
• significant hot spot of asbestosis in town of
  libby

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WTC site dust hazards
Asbestisform mineral map
Iron minerals map
http//pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/ofr-01-0429/
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Moon and Mars dusts??

• How are they different from earth dusts?

9
Arsenic in groundwater

• Primary source arsenious pyrites
• Controlled by FeOOH mineralization

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