Le Bouffant L
Environ Health Perspect. 1974 Dec;9:149-53. doi: 10.1289/ehp.749149.
A method is described for isolating asbestos fibers contained in biological tissues. It consists in incinerating the biological material in activated oxygen at 150 degrees C, and attacking the ash by 1N HC1 for 18 hr. The residue is then filtered on a membrane covered with a carbon film. Electron microscope examination of the deposit makes it possible to determine fiber concentrations when the weight or volume of primary material is known, and to make size analyses. By x-ray diffraction, the mineralogical nature of the asbestos is determined by comparison with an aluminum reference diagram. For x-ray diffraction, a micromethod is used, with an ash sample of about 10 mug. These techniques are used for identifying and counting asbestos fibers in small fragments of lungs or other organs. It was found that asbestos fibers generally go along with other minerals which may be abundant. Most fibers found in lung are less than 5 mum long. Counts on lungs of asbestos workers give concentrations often greater than 10(7) particles per gram of dry tissue. The evolution of inhaled chrysotile seems to be different from that of amphiboles. In the case of pleural mesothelioma, a comparison of fibers within the tumor with fibers in the adjacent parenchyma shows only slight differences in the particle sizes, but marked differences in their nature, with a chrysotile enrichment in the pleural zone. Pleural plaques were analyzed in the same way. After decalcification, many small sized asbestos fibers were found. The same technique is now being used for determining ingested particles. A great number of observations concerning fiber counts, their nature and sizes, and the presence of various clays minerals will be necessary to establish the role of the different factors in the formation of lesions caused by the inhalation or the ingestion of asbestos fibers.
本文描述了一种分离生物组织中所含石棉纤维的方法。该方法包括在150℃的活性氧中焚烧生物材料，并用1N盐酸处理灰烬18小时。然后将残渣过滤在覆盖有碳膜的膜上。当已知原始材料的重量或体积时，通过对沉积物进行电子显微镜检查可以确定纤维浓度，并进行尺寸分析。通过X射线衍射，与铝参考图谱比较来确定石棉的矿物学性质。对于X射线衍射，采用微量法，使用约10微克的灰分样品。这些技术用于识别和计数肺或其他器官小碎片中的石棉纤维。发现石棉纤维通常与可能大量存在的其他矿物质伴生。在肺中发现的大多数纤维长度小于5微米。对石棉工人肺部的计数显示，浓度通常大于每克干组织10^7个颗粒。吸入的温石棉的演变似乎与闪石不同。在胸膜间皮瘤的情况下，将肿瘤内的纤维与相邻实质中的纤维进行比较，发现颗粒大小只有轻微差异，但性质上有明显差异，胸膜区域温石棉富集。以同样的方式分析胸膜斑。脱钙后，发现了许多小尺寸的石棉纤维。现在同样的技术正用于确定摄入的颗粒。为了确定吸入或摄入石棉纤维所引起病变形成中不同因素的作用，需要大量关于纤维计数、其性质和大小以及各种粘土矿物存在情况的观察结果。
