Analysis of the cores of ferruginous (asbestos) bodies from the general population. III. Patients with environmental exposure.

Typical asbestos bodies visible by light microscopy were isolated from the lungs of 29 persons with fewer than 100 such bodies per gram of lung, a level that is considered indicative of environmental rather than occupational asbestos exposure. Of 144 bodies examined by electron diffraction, 143 contained an amphibole asbestos core and one contained a chrysotile asbestos core. Thirty-five bodies from 21 patients were also analyzed by electron microprobe. Of these, 21 were chemically consistent with amosite or crocidolite asbestos, 13 with anthophyllite asbestos, and one with tremolite asbestos. Certain differences in chemical fiber types between men and women became apparent. Although cores of amosite and crocidolite predominated in men (12 of 14, 86 per cent), anthophyllite and tremolite comprised 57 per cent (12 of 21) of the cores found in women, a statistically significant difference. These differences suggest that the major commerical varieties of amphibole asbestos (amosite and crocidolite) are the source of the fibers in men, whereas in women a major source may be cosmetic talc, which is often contaminated with anthophyllite and tremolite. On the basis of this study and our previous studies, we conclude that almost all typical asbestos bodies from the lungs of the general population contain an amphibole asbestos core.