A review on the bioweathering and bioremediation of asbestos containing waste materials in soils

Santanu Mukherjee; Shailja Sharma; Shiv Bolan; Liuwei Wang; Terri-Ann Berry; Shannon L. Wallis; Dan Blanchon; Deyi Hou; Valerie A. Geoffroy; Kadambot H. M. Siddique; Nanthi Bolan

doi:10.1071/SR25013

REVIEW (Open Access)

Contents Vol 63(4)

A review on the bioweathering and bioremediation of asbestos containing waste materials in soils

Santanu Mukherjee

^A ^* , Shailja Sharma ^B , Shiv Bolan ^C ^D ^E , Liuwei Wang ^F , Terri-Ann Berry ^G , Shannon L. Wallis ^H , Dan Blanchon ^I ^J , Deyi Hou ^F , Valerie A. Geoffroy ^K , Kadambot H. M. Siddique ^D and Nanthi Bolan ^C ^D ^E ^*

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Agriculture, Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, Solan 173229, India.

^B School of Biological & Environmental Sciences, Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, Solan 173229, India.

^C UWA School of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.

^D The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.

^E Healthy Environments And Lives (HEAL) National Research Network, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.

^F School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People’s Republic of China.

^G School of Future Environments, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1010, New Zealand.

^H Environmental Innovation Centre, Auckland, 0620, New Zealand.

^I Auckland War Memorial Museum – Tāmaki Paenga Hira, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.

^J Applied Molecular Solutions Research Centre, Unitec, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.

^K CNRS-UMR 7242, Biotechnologie et Signalisation Cellulaire ESBS, 300, Bd Sebastien Brant CS 10413, Illkirch Cedex F67412, France.

^* Correspondence to: santanu@shooliniuniversity.com, Nanthi.Bolan@uwa.edu.au

Handling Editor: Claudio Bini

Soil Research 63, SR25013 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR25013

Submitted: 29 January 2025 Accepted: 15 April 2025 Published: 6 May 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Asbestos is a silicate mineral that occurs naturally and is made up of flexible fibres that are resistant to heat, fire, and chemicals and do not conduct electricity. Both anthropogenic disturbance and natural weathering of asbestos-containing waste materials (ACWMs) can result in the emission of asbestos fibre dust, which when breathed, can cause asbestosis, a chronic lung illness that happens due to prolonged exposure of such fibre dust, and can cause ‘mesothelioma’ cancer. Although asbestos mining and its utilisation had been banned in many countries, there is still a significant issue of ACWMs disposal in the built environment and abandoned sites. It is neither practical nor economical to safely eliminate ACWMs from the built environment, and it is estimated that globally, 4 billion metric tonnes of ACWMs require safe management strategies. The toxicity of inhaled asbestos fibre relies on its surface properties, and in particular the distribution of iron, which serves a critical role in pathogenicity by forming reactive free radicals that damage DNA, thereby trigging cancer. Examining the usefulness of higher plants and microbes in the bioremediation of soil contaminated with ACWMs is the prime aim of the review. Higher plants and microorganisms such as lichens, fungi, and bacteria often play a major role in the remediation of soil contaminated with ACWMs by facilitating the bioweathering of asbestos and the removal of iron to mitigate the toxicity of asbestos.

Keywords: asbestos, bioremediation, bioweathering, humans, lung disease, mesothelioma cancer, pathogenicity, toxicity.

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