Claudia Ricchiuti is currently a Ph.D. student in Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences (University of Catania, Italy).
Her scientific activity is mainly based on the mineralogical and geochemical characterization of asbestos fibres either in rocks and soils. Since 2015, she improved their knowledge concerning Natural Occurring Asbestos (NOA), through her Master thesis, post-graduated internship at foreign Universities and collaboration with national and international research centres during which she had experience on performing various laboratory analyses (i.e. OM, XRPD, SEM-EDS, TEM-EDS, TG/DSC, EPMA, SR-µCT).
Microstructural characterization of mineral fibres of high impact for environmental pollution
The research activities of our research group are mainly based on the mineralogical and geochemical characterization of mineral fibres contained in rocks and soils. The Natural Asbestos Occurrences (NOA) widely occur in the environment and the risk to human health is represented by the inhalation of fibrous minerals released into the atmosphere because of human activities (e.g. road construction) or weathering processes (e.g. erosion). The aim of our work is to provide a contribution to the knowledge obtained so far related to Natural Asbestos Occurrences as wel as the territory mapping in order to limit the risk associated to the asbestos exposure.