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Outdoor concentrations of airborne asbestos have been measured throughout the US over time. However, a thorough review and analysis of these data has not been conducted. The purpose of this study is to characterize asbestos concentrations in ambient air by environment type (urban, rural) and by decade, using measurements collected in the absence of known asbestos emission sources. A total of 17 published and unpublished studies and datasets were identified that reported the results of 2058 samples collected from the 1960s through the 2000s across the US. Most studies did not report asbestos fiber type, and data based on different analytical methods (e.g. Phase Contrast Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy, etc.) were combined in the dataset; however, only fibers ≥5 μm in length were considered. For a small subset of the measurements (n = 186, 9.0%), a conversion factor was used to convert mass-based data (e.g. ng/m3) to count-based values (i.e. f/cc ≥5 μm). The estimated overall mean and median ambient asbestos concentrations for the 1960s through 2000s were 0.00093 f/cc and 0.00022 f/cc, respectively. Concentrations generally increased from the 1960s through the early 1980s, after which they declined considerably. While asbestos use decreased throughout the 1970s, these results indicate that ambient concentrations peaked during the early 1980s, which suggests the possible contribution of abatement or demolition activities. Lastly, ambient asbestos concentrations were higher in urban than rural settings, which is consistent with the greater use of asbestos-containing materials in more densely populated areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous measurement of hourly concentrations of 212Pb attached to aerosol particles was carried out during the whole year 2000 in the outdoor air of Milan (Italy).An improved experimental method based on on-line alpha spectroscopy during atmospheric particulate matter sampling allowed the contemporary determination of 212Pb and 214Bi through the deconvolution of the alpha energy spectral distribution analysis.The 212Pb hourly concentrations were about 100 times lower than 214Bi but showed a similar characteristic diurnal time trend. However, the influence of meteorological parameters such as rain and wind was more evident in 212Pb than in 214Bi concentrations.The 212Pb average annual concentration was 0.090±0.060 Bq/m3 with daily mean concentration varying from 0.013 to 0.333 Bq/m3. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]