[Surface tension in rat lungs after quartz dust inhalation (author's transl)].

The influence of quartz dust (1000mg/m3) on surface tension in rat lungs was investigated. The exposure-times were 5, 15 and 30 hours. The animals were killed, 1, 7, 14, 28 and 90 days after quartz dust exposure and the surface tension was measured in a Wilhelmy balance. There was no significant difference between control animals and quartz dust animals in gammamax, gammamin and S. But there were significant differences in the same groups in hysteresis shape index and compressibility-coefficient.