Man-made mineral fibers (MMMF): Human exposures and health risk assessment

Journal Article · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990 · Toxicology and Industrial Health; (United States)

OSTI ID:5696722

Lippmann, M ^[1]

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1. New York Univ. Medical Center, Tuxedo (United States)

Man-made mineral fibers (MMMF) are made by spraying or extruding molten glass, furnace slag, or mineral rock. Health concerns are based on the morphological and toxicological similarities between MMF and asbestos, and the well-documented evidence that asbestos fibers can cause lung fibrosis (asbestosis), bronchial cancer, and mesothelioma in humans. Epidemiological evidence for human disease from inhalation exposures to fibrous glass is largely negative. Some positive associations have been reported from slag and rockwools. Most of the toxicological evidence for MMMF toxicity in laboratory animals is based on nonphysiological exposures such as intratracheal instillation or intraperitoneal injection of fiber suspensions. The risks for lung fibrosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma for industrial exposures to most fibrous glass products are either low or negligible for a variety of reasons. First, most commercial fibrous glass products have mean fiber diameters of {approximately} 7.5 {mu}m, which results in mean aerodynamic diameters > 22 {mu}m. Thus, most glass fibers, even if dispersed into the air, do not penetrate into the lung to any great extent. Second, the small fraction of smaller diameter fibers which do penetrate into the lungs are not persistent within the lungs for most fibrous glass products, due to mechanical breakage into shorter lengths and dissolution. Dissolution is most rapid for the smaller diameters capable of producing mesothelioma. The greater hazards for slag and rockwools, in comparison to conventional fibrous glass, appear to be related to their smaller diameters and greater durability within the lungs.

• OSTI ID: 5696722
• Journal Information: Toxicology and Industrial Health; (United States), Vol. 6:2; ISSN 0748-2337
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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