title: Airborne asbestos in Colorado public schools.
abstract: Levels of airborne asbestos for six Colorado public school facilities with sprayed-on asbestos materials were documented using three analytical techniques. Phase contrast microscopy showed levels up to the thousandths of a fiber per cubic centimeter (f/cc), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) up to the hundredths of a f/cc, and transmission electron microscopy coupled to selected area electron diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (TEM-SAED-EDXA) up to the tenths of an asbestos f/cc. Phase contrast microscopy was found to be an inadequate analytical technique for documenting the levels of airborne asbestos fibers in the schools: only large fibers which were not embedded in the filter were counted, and asbestos fibers were not distinguished from nonasbestos.
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D001194:Asbestos / Q000032:analysis*; D003120:Colorado; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008858:Microscopy, Phase-Contrast; D012574:Schools
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D001194:Asbestos