BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Chem.
Sec. Analytical Chemistry
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fchem.2025.1581910
This article is part of the Research TopicMineral Particles and Fibers and Human Health Risks: State-of-the-Art in Characterization, Analysis, Tissue Analytics, Exposure Thresholds for Risk, Epidemiology, and Risk Assessment for Science-Based Regulation and Disease Prevention and Implications for Occupational Health and SafetyView all 12 articles
Validation of Freeze-Drier/Plasma Asher Method for Analysis of Asbestos in the Lung Tissue
Provisionally accepted
- Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione dell’Ambiente della Lombardia, Milano, Italy
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Introduction: the analysis of asbestos fibers in lung tissue is complex due to both the biological matrix and the analyte. Lung tissue preparation techniques for asbestos burden analysis require the removal of organic matter to make the inorganic mineral components visible. The method's validation is challenging due to the analyte's inherent variability. This study outlines a procedure for validating an asbestos fiber analysis method in lung tissue. Methods: at the Electron Microscopy Laboratory of ARPA Lombardia, a method using a plasma asher for freeze-dried lung tissue digestion was developed. The analysis is carried out with a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometer. Problems associated with interferences, instrument calibration and resolution, analytical sensitivity, recovery were described in detail. The trueness and precision of the analytical method were evaluated using certified reference materials in accordance with ISO 33403:2024 standard. Results and conclusion: the developed method underwent a rigorous validation process to ensure metrological traceability of the results. Using validated analytical methods with consistent counting rules ensures comparability of data across laboratories while guaranteeing traceable results.
Keywords: Asbestos, lung tissue, Plasma asher, Freeze drier, Method validation
Received: 23 Feb 2025; Accepted: 24 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 SOMIGLIANA. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: ANNA BENEDETTA SOMIGLIANA, Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione dell’Ambiente della Lombardia, Milano, Italy
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