Fibrous glass: carcinogenicity and dimensional characteristics.

Pleural responses in rats after the implantation of 17 samples of fibrous glass allowed Stanton et al. (1977) to formulate a statistical interpretation of the relationship between the carcinogenicity of this material and its dimensional characteristics. Using the data from that study, a new statistical approach has been developed, using correspondence analysis, multiple regression on the length and diameter of the fibres and simple regression on the average aspect ratio of the fibres, i.e., their average length:diameter ratio. Relationships obtained indicate that carcinogenicity is a continuous, increasing function of the aspect ratio of the fibres, and thus show that it is not possible to separate the effects of the two variables, length and diameter. A hypothesis is presented according to which the fibres could act as an active support for the transformation of adsorbed precarcinogenic molecules. This role would be dependent on the dimensional characteristics of the fibres.