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Translocation and fate of sized man-made mineral fibers following exposure by intratracheal instillation or inhalation in rats

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6919985

A number of studies have suggested that both the length and diameter of glass fibers are important parameters in determining their deposition and translocation in the lung and in the subsequent pathological response by the lung. However, the fibers used in these studies had broad size distributions and were often administered in a highly artificial manner. To better characterize the biological response to glass fibers, a study is being conducted to determine the translocation and ultimate fate of fibers of defined sizes after introduction into the respiratory tract of rats by both instillation and inhalation. The fibers have geometric mean diameters of 1.5 ..mu..m (sigma g = 1.11) and lengths of either 5 ..mu..m (sigma g = 1.49) or 60 ..mu..m (sigma g = 3.76). Serial sacrifices following intratracheal instillation of either 2 mg or 20 mg doses have shown differences in the response to the two sizes of fibers. The short fibers appear to lie primarily within mononuclear phagocytes in both the lung and lymph nodes. The majority of long fibers, however, cannot be totally engulfed by macrophages, nor are they cleared to the lymph nodes, although smaller fragments accompanying the long fibers may be so cleared. The long fibers produce a striking foreign body reaction in the lung, particularly when impacted in the bronchi. Significant numbers of long fibers, but few, if any, short fibers are found in the plural cavity. A trachea only inhalation method was used to expose rats to approximately 500 fibers/cc for one hour. Between 30,000 to 50,000 fibers were deposited in the lung of each rat.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA); State Univ. of New York, Stony Brook (USA). Health Science Center
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-76CH00016
OSTI ID:
6919985
Report Number(s):
BNL-28789; CONF-8006151-1
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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