Biogeochemistry, Medical and Environmental Mineralogy of Fibrous Minerals

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (13 October 2024) | Viewed by 2822

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Torino, 10125 Torino, Italy
Interests: medical mineralogy; electron microscopy; biogeochemistry
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The purpose of this Special Issue is to collect contributions on the nomenclature of fibrous minerals, their characterization and the development of analytical techniques, and their interaction with the biosphere and the environment.

According to mineralogists, fibrous minerals are those minerals that appear as composed of fibers. The term “fiber” is a qualitative mineralogical definition identifying minerals with a highly elongated morphology. This Special Issue welcomes any contribution related to those minerals that might be qualitatively identified as fibrous (including “elongate mineral particles,” asbestiform minerals, and so on). The interaction between asbestos and the human body was largely investigated for decades in the scientific literature. On the other hand, many other minerals that are not identified as asbestos are poorly investigated, despite sharing similar properties with it. In this Special Issue, we hope to gather contributions dealing with:

  • Fibrous minerals’ nomenclature, terminology and parametrization issues, inaccuracies, and possible solutions;
  • The characterization of fibrous minerals using multi-instrumental and multi-scale approaches;
  • The physicochemical state of fibrous minerals in different matrices, including both organic and inorganic matrices;
  • The physicochemical transformation of fibrous minerals in the environment, in simulated body fluids, and in cell cultures or other matrices of interest;
  • The application and development of advanced or unusual characterization techniques in the investigation of the state or transformation of fibrous minerals.

Dr. Ruggero Vigliaturo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fibrous minerals
  • fibers
  • elongate mineral particles
  • asbestos
  • asbestiform
  • fibers’ physico-chemistry

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 5249 KiB  
Article
A Preliminary Investigation into the Degradation of Asbestos Fibres in Soils, Rocks and Building Materials Associated with Naturally Occurring Biofilms
by Terry-Ann Berry, Shannon Wallis, Erin Doyle, Peter de Lange, Gregor Steinhorn, Ruggero Vigliaturo, Elena Belluso and Dan Blanchon
Minerals 2024, 14(1), 106; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14010106 - 19 Jan 2024
Viewed by 2252
Abstract
Bioremediation utilizes living organisms such as plants, microbes and their enzymatic products to reduce toxicity in xenobiotic compounds. Microbial-mediated bioremediation is cost effective and sustainable and in situ application is easily implemented. Either naturally occurring metabolic activity can be utilized during bioremediation for [...] Read more.
Bioremediation utilizes living organisms such as plants, microbes and their enzymatic products to reduce toxicity in xenobiotic compounds. Microbial-mediated bioremediation is cost effective and sustainable and in situ application is easily implemented. Either naturally occurring metabolic activity can be utilized during bioremediation for the degradation, transformation or accumulation of substances, or microbial augmentation with non-native species can be exploited. Despite the perceived low potential for the biological degradation of some recalcitrant compounds, successful steps towards bioremediation have been made, including with asbestos minerals, which are prevalent in building stock (created prior to the year 2000) in New Zealand. Evidence of the in situ biodegradation of asbestos fibres was investigated in samples taken from a retired asbestos mine, asbestos-contaminated soils and biofilm or lichen-covered asbestos-containing building materials. Microbial diversity within the biofilms to be associated with the asbestos-containing samples was investigated using internal transcribed spacer and 16S DNA amplicon sequencing, supplemented with isolation and culturing on agar plates. A range of fungal and bacterial species were found, including some known to produce siderophores. Changes to fibre structure and morphology were analysed using Transmission Electron Microscopy and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. Chrysotile fibrils from asbestos-containing material (ACMs), asbestos-containing soils, and asbestos incorporated into lichen material showed signs of amorphisation and dissolution across their length, which could be related to biological activity. Full article
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