Laboratory testing is crucial to understanding and mitigating any risks that are associated with soils that contain asbestos. Contaminated land practitioners in New Zealand utilise two key laboratory methods to assess the presence and quantity of asbestos in a soil sample. We provide testing for both of these methods from our laboratories in Auckland and Christchurch and they are briefly summarised below:
Presence / Absence for Asbestos
A soil sample is ground, oven dried, sieved and ashed, prior to the examination and identification of asbestos. Asbestos results for the Presence / Absence method are reported in a detected/not detected format.
Semi–Quantitative for Asbestos (also referred to as the BRANZ or New Zealand Guideline method)
A soil sample is ground, oven dried, sieved into 3 fractions and ashed. Each fraction is examined individually for asbestos containing material (ACM), ACM fragments and/or asbestos fines. Final results for asbestos are reported as a weight/weight %.
The new service that we’ve launched involves an ‘asbestos detected’ result for the Presence/Absence method automatically triggering analysis for the Semi–Quantitative method in the laboratory.
This means that analysis for the Semi–Quantitative Method for asbestos can be triggered as soon as the Presence/Absence result for a sample is processed by the laboratory, meaning there are no delays in starting the testing for the Semi–Quantitation of Asbestos, and there is no need for the additional testing to be confirmed by the client. Results for both the Presence/Absence method and the Semi–Quantitative Method are reported for a sample, and an interim report will be issued as soon as the Presence/Absence result is available also.
This new service offering is complementary to the recent roll-out of our new smaller container (PSoil125Asb) for soil samples requiring Presence/Absence analysis for asbestos.
Noting that for both the Presence / Absence method and the Semi–Quantitative method to be conducted on a sample, two asbestos containers must be submitted, and both containers need to be completely filled with soil. The two containers required are:
If we can help at all with your asbestos testing requirements, or if you are interested to know more about our new service and how to request this service when submitting samples, please contact your client service manager, or our environmental client services team at env.csm@hill-labs.co.nz
