Internal Transcribed Spacer and 16S Amplicon Sequencing Identifies Microbial Species Associated with Asbestos in New Zealand.

ABSTRACT: Inhalation of asbestos fibres can cause lung inflammation and the later development of asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma, and the use of asbestos is banned in many countries. In most countries, large amounts of asbestos exists within building stock, buried in landfills, and in contaminated soil. Mechanical, thermal, and chemical treatment options do exist, but these are expensive, and they are not effective for contaminated soil, where only small numbers of asbestos fibres may be present in a large volume of soil. Research has been underway for the last 20 years into the potential use of microbial action to remove iron and other metal cations from the surface of asbestos fibres to reduce their toxicity. To access sufficient iron for metabolism, many bacteria and fungi produce organ

SUBMITTER: Doyle E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10048439 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature