Hazardous waste in the Anthropocene: The comparative methods for asbestos roofs detection to assess the environmental risk

Abstract

In the Anthropocene, humanity faces many questions related to the harmful effects of many substances on their health and the environment around them. One such mineral that had many uses, useful in human daily life, but which ultimately turned out to have a detrimental effect on human health and the environment, is asbestos. Due to the progressive urbanization of the world, asbestos has been widely used in the economies of many countries. Its’ unique physical and chemical properties were used, inter alia, for the production of asbestos-cement roofs. The only data available used by researchers and provided by USGS are on asbestos fiber production, which will not enable us to assess the health and environmental risk. It is estimated that over 90% of asbestos-containing products still in use are asbestos roofs. Quantity information is missing so other methods are being sought to estimate the amount and spatial distribution of these roofs to safely eliminate them from use since the environmental pollution with asbestos fibers poses a threat to humans and the natural environment. The purpose of the study is to present methods for estimating the number of asbestos-cement roofs to assess the environmental risk of air pollution on a national scale and to present methods for the recognition of asbestos-cement roofs using various classification algorithms and image data. These algorithms can be successfully used in other countries to determine the amount of asbestos-cement roofs to be safely disposed of and take the necessary actions.