Asbestos containing materials in schools of Rome and surrounding area (Italy).

Despite Italy banning use and production of asbestos in 1992, it continues to represent a risk to human health due to its permanence in the places where it was located. The aim of this work is to estimate how many schools in Rome (Italy) have asbestos containing materials (ACM), and to assess whether the location, condition and nature of ACM can influence the level of risk for student health. 3,672 schools were contacted and 1,451 participated to asbestos survey. 692 bulk samples were collected and analyzed by optical and electron microscope and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. About 16% of the surveyed schools had ACM. Most of the ACM were not accessible to students (water tanks, boiler thermal insulations). Asbestos-cement materials and vinyl floor tiles were the most common non-friable materials found in schools and equipment insulation linings and Bunsen burner gauze mats were the friable ACM found in science laboratories. Measures to prevent or reduce asbestos hazards were applied where necessary. This study allowed to develop the awareness of the asbestos health hazard among headteachers and the need to manage these hazards appropriately. It represents the beginning of a larger study leading to ACM national mapping in schools.

Many particle approximation of the Aw-Rascle-Zhang second order model for vehicular traffic.

We consider the follow-the-leader approximation of the Aw-Rascle-Zhang (ARZ) model for traffic flow in a multi population formulation. We prove rigorous convergence to weak solutions of the ARZ system in the many particle limit in presence of vacuum. The result is based on uniform BV estimates on the discrete particle velocity. We complement our result with numerical simulations of the particle method compared with some exact solutions to the Riemann problem of the ARZ system.