The adsorption of polyaromatic hydrocarbons on natural and chemically modified asbestos fibers.

Many reports indicate that the carcinogenic (genotoxic) potential of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) may be enhanced several-fold by the promoter (epigenetic) effect of asbestos particles. This promoting effect could be related to the fact that when B[a]P is adsorbed onto the particles, there is a resulting enhanced transport and uptake of the carcinogen into microsomial membranes. These in vitro data bear relevance to the epidemiological studies which indicate an association between exposure to inhaled asbestos dusts and the high incidence of pulmonary cancers in smokers. Using HPLC, it has been observed that B[a]P has great affinity for natural asbestos fibers, and that chemical modification of natural chrysotile with POCl3 results in the complete loss of this adsorption potential of chrysotile for benzo[a]pyrene.