Analysis and interpretation of inorganic mineral particles in "lung" tissues

Our plain-English summary of Analysis and interpretation of inorganic mineral particles in "lung" tissues, by A.R. Gibbs, F.D. Pooley (Thorax, 1996).

The study

• Authors: A.R. Gibbs, F.D. Pooley
• Journal: Thorax
• Published: 1996;51(3):327-34
• Type of article: Review
• Cited by: 42 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Mineral analysis of tissue specimens has provided very useful information in pathological conditions associated with occupational exposures to mineral particles, particularly when combined with epidemiological information. Most of the data have been related to exposures to fibrous particles such as asbestos. More investigations of this nature are required in diseases associated with exposure to non-fibrous particles. In the future it is likely that these types of investigation will be extended into the effects of pollutants.

In plain English

This article was a review in a journal series on occupational lung disease. The authors described how inorganic mineral particles are taken from lung tissue, identified, counted and interpreted. It covered sampling, tissue preparation and microscopy methods, with examples from asbestos-related diseases, silicate pneumoconioses and metal exposures. From their own laboratory, the authors reported that pooling several lung samples gave much less variation: an average of 50% and a maximum of three fold. Severe clinical asbestosis was usually associated with combined amphibole levels of more than 1000 million fibres per gram of dry lung. In their laboratory, 2 million crocidolite fibres per gram of dry lung would be regarded as causative of a mesothelioma but not a lung cancer. Citing published studies, they described a gradient across asbestos-related diseases: highest in asbestosis and lung cancer, lower for mesothelioma and diffuse pleural fibrosis, and lowest for pleural plaques. They noted that lung fibre burden cannot give reliable information about past chrysotile exposure. The authors concluded that mineral analysis has provided very useful information, particularly when combined with epidemiological information.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Narrative review of methods for analysing mineral particles in lung tissue, with examples from the authors' own laboratory and from published studies
• Who was studied: No single study population. The review discussed lung tissue and lavage samples from workers and control subjects, drawn from published studies and the authors' laboratory work
• Exposure: Mainly asbestos fibres (chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite). Also non-fibrous silicates (talc, kaolin, mica), silica, and metals such as nickel, chromium, beryllium, aluminium and hard metal
• Main results:
  • In the authors' laboratory, pooling multiple lung samples gave much less variation in fibre counts: an average of 50% and a maximum of three fold
  • In the authors' study of asbestos-related diffuse pleural fibrosis, fibre levels did not differ significantly between the central and subpleural zones of the lung. Levels were much lower in the pleura
  • The authors found that severe clinical asbestosis (with symptoms and radiological changes) was usually associated with combined amphibole levels of more than 1000 million fibres per gram of dry lung tissue
  • In the authors' laboratory, a level of 2 million crocidolite fibres per gram of dry lung tissue would be regarded as causative of a mesothelioma but not of a lung cancer
  • Citing published studies, the authors stated that mineral analysis had shown a gradient across asbestos-related diseases: highest in asbestosis and lung cancer, lower for mesothelioma and diffuse pleural fibrosis, and lowest for pleural plaques
  • The authors examined three heavy smokers with lung cancer who had worked in chromate production for 20-25 years. Chromium particles made up 45% to 66% of the particles in their lung tissue
  • In one lung cancer case seen by the authors, asbestos fibre levels were not significantly raised, but nickel fibres were found
  • In one subject with mesothelioma who had been a ceiling tile fitter, a lavage sample showed calcium silicate and chrysotile fibres. Lung tissue examined after death showed chrysotile and a significantly raised amosite level
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that mineral analysis of tissue has provided very useful information in conditions linked to occupational mineral exposures, particularly when combined with epidemiological information. They also concluded that more such work is needed on non-fibrous particles
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The lung's mineral burden does not show how many fibres were cleared, so it cannot reliably indicate past chrysotile exposure
  • Historical information on the size and shape of airborne particles is lacking, so airborne measurements cannot be compared with lung burden
  • For the chromate workers, the authors had no exposed controls without lung cancer to compare against

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Occupational Exposure.

Related studies

• Preparation of extrapulmonary tissues and body fluids for quantitative transmission electron microscope analysis of asbestos and other mineral particle concentrations — P.M. Cook (1979)
• Inorganic particles in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids from nonoccupationally exposed subjects — M. Falchi, L. Biondo, et al. (1996)
• Mineral particles of varying composition induce differential chemokine release from epithelial lung cells: importance of physico-chemical characteristics — J. Ovrevik, T. Myran, et al. (2005)
• Types, numbers, sizes, and distribution of mineral particles in the lungs of urban male cigarette smokers — A. Churg, B. Wiggs (1987)
• A striking deposition of mineral particles in the lungs of a farmer: a case report — B. Gylseth, L. Stettler, et al. (1984)
• Mineral particles in the lungs of subjects resident in the Rome area and not occupationally exposed to mineral dust — L. Paoletti, D. Batisti, et al. (1987)

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