Leophonte P, Fabre J, Fortune J P, Pincemin J, Delaude A
Poumon Coeur. 1978;34(3):193-201.
The pleuro-pulmonary pathology of asbestos, top most of silicates, is today well known. Other silicates, talcum powder, clays, micas essentially, are exploited and commercialized. Their pathology is less well known and often contradictory because of the heterogeneity of the inhaled minerals. All can contain large quantities of quartz and some varieties of talcum and a considerable proportion of asbestos fibres. These minerals can provoke severe pneumoconioses, silicoses and asbestoses respectively. Some relatively pure products do not contain these contaminants. In case of intense and prolonged dust inhaling, they can produced an impressive pneumoconiosis with relatively mild clinical signs as shown by the series of 27 cases of pneumoconiosis from the french talcum powder as reported by the authors. The chemical nature and electronic structure of different silicates are very similar. It raises the question of the noxious effect of asbestos and the relative innocuousness of other minerals of the same family, and wether the fibrous structure alone is implicated.
作为最典型的硅酸盐，石棉的胸膜-肺部病理学如今已广为人知。其他硅酸盐，主要是滑石粉、黏土、云母，也被开发利用并商业化。由于吸入矿物质的异质性，它们的病理学鲜为人知且常常相互矛盾。所有这些都可能含有大量石英以及某些种类的滑石和相当比例的石棉纤维。这些矿物质分别可引发严重的尘肺、矽肺和石棉肺。一些相对纯净的产品不含这些污染物。在长期大量吸入粉尘的情况下，它们可引发严重的尘肺，但临床症状相对较轻，正如作者报道的27例法国滑石粉所致尘肺病例系列所显示的那样。不同硅酸盐的化学性质和电子结构非常相似。这就引发了一个问题，即石棉的有害作用以及同一家族其他矿物质相对无害的原因，以及是否仅仅是纤维结构起作用。
