아래 내용은 NEWS4SA의 8월 2일자 기사입니다.
미국 샌안토니오에 사용되는 수도관의 27퍼센트가 석면을 함유한 것으로 알려졌다. 2,000마일(3,200km)이상 도시 전체에 분포되어 있는 것이다. 지하에 묻혀 있는 수도관은 매년 수천건의 파손이 일어나고 있어 석면 노출의 위험성이 커지고 있는 것이다.
수도관이 노후되면 파손되고 석면이 수돗물에 들어가서 사람에게 도달한다.
하지만, 샌안토니도 수도국의 앤 헤이든은 수도관 내부는 칼슘으로 코팅이 되어 있어서 시멘트에 포함된 석면과 반응하는 일은 없을 것이라고 말했다.
EPA는 석면이 물 1리터당 칠백만개 이하면 안전하다고 하며, 샌안토니오수도국은 2022년 검사 결과 리터당 197,000개 이하로 나왔다고 한다.
여러 연구를 통해 석면이 소화기관으로 들어가는 것과 질병의 연관 관계는 직접적인 상관 관계가 있다는 사실을 밝히는데 실패하였다. 하지만 음용수에 석면과 같은 발암물질이 있다는 사실을 무시해도 된다는 것은 아니다.
그러나, 필라델피아의 드렉셀 대학에서 1968년부터 석면의 위해성에 대해 연구해 온 아서 프랭크 등의 전문가는 음용수 내 석면을 섭취하는 것과 암 발생에 강력한 인과관계가 있다고 주장한다.
----------------------------------------------
Asbestos is known to cause cancer when inhaled into the lungs. The News 4 I-Team has uncovered that pipes made with asbestos are still in use throughout San Antonio.
The science behind the safety of asbestos water pipe is not as clear. Growing concern about possible health effects is causing many water systems to replace them.
The I-Team obtained a map from the San Antonio Water System showing the location of its asbestos-cement pipes. It’s in use throughout the city, more than two thousand miles of it, making up more than 27 percent of all SAWS pipe.
As our underground water pipes age we're experiencing thousands of main breaks every year, which increases the risk of asbestos exposure.
A concern not only for crew members who must repair them, but for water customers like Marsha Grayson, who didn't know the pipes in her neighborhood were made of asbestos-cement.
“My fear is that even though they may not have a whole lot of evidence yet, it could certainly have health effects," Grayson said.
She reached that conclusion after Googling research by the National Institutes of Health, which conducted a critical review of asbestos risk from water that states:
"Despite the findings of several studies that have failed to establish a direct correlation between the consumption of asbestos fibers and the development of illnesses, it is not advisable to dismiss the likelihood of asbestos fibers being cancerogenic when present in drinking water."
Some experts see a stronger connection between asbestos in water and cancer, like Arthur Frank of Drexel University in Philadelphia, who has been studying asbestos health risks since 1968.
“We know that the consumption of asbestos, such as drinking asbestos fibers that have come through asbestos pipes, increases one's risk for developing certain kinds of cancers," Frank told the News 4 I-Team in an interview.
Back in the 1950's and sixties asbestos was used in all kinds of building materials for waterproofing and insulation. It was mixed with cement to make hundreds of thousands of miles of water pipe throughout the U.S.
San Antonio stopped installing new asbestos cement pipes in the 1980s, but older pipes buried decades ago are still in use and are deteriorating.
“The pipes that we have in the system are not a danger to our customers, we make sure of that every single day," said Anne Hayden of SAWS.
She says our hard water creates a calcium barrier on the inside of the pipes.
“There's a coating on the inside of our pipes that's preventing any interaction with the asbestos that might be embedded in the cement," Hayden told us.
Researcher Arthur Frank says the real danger is from main breaks.
“Clearly as pipes crumble, deteriorate, break, fibers do get into the water system and end up in peoples’ drinking water," he said.
SAWS says that doesn't happen here.
"We make sure our water lines are under pressure so when those mains break, water shoots out, it doesn't go in," Hayden said.
(이하 생략)
위 내용의 원문과 샌안토니오 석면 수도관의 분포도는 아래 링크를 클릭하세요.
<a href=https://news4sanantonio.com/news/trouble-shooters/27-percent-of-saws-water-pipe-contains-asbestos-experts-divided-on-health-risks> 27 percent of SAWS water pipe contains asbestos, experts divided on health risks </a>
