Lung-Retained Dose Following Occupational Exposure to Silica

Abstract Forty-two men with cancer at varying sites were rated prospectively from interviews for lifetime exposures to crystalline free silica. Information was obtained on concentration, frequency, and reliability of exposure information, as well as smoking, duration of exposure, and clearance time. Fifteen men had silica exposure; all were smokers. Other subjects served as smoking (N = 16) and nonsmoking (N = 9) controls without silica exposure. Paraffin blocks of lung tissue were subsequently obtained, deparaffinized, chemically digested, ashed, and mounted on copper mesh grids. Grids were examined electron microscopically at 10,000× and nonfibrous particles were counted if their diameter exceeded 1.0 μm but was less than 7.0 μm. Fibers were defined as structures longer than 3 μm with an aspect ratio > 3:1 and were counted separately. Mineralogical identification was performed using energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry. Nonfibrous silica, feldspar, micas and clays, other silicates, and total silica/sili...

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