Identification and quantitation of microparticles in solid materials

Our plain-English summary of Identification and quantitation of microparticles in solid materials, by D.R. Bowes (Environmental Health Perspectives, 1974).

The study

• Author: D.R. Bowes
• Journal: Environmental Health Perspectives
• Published: 1974;9:125-7
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy.

Abstract

Variation in the precise conditions of geological formation may produce variations in the exact composition of asbestos minerals of a particular class, and thus in their biological interactions. Examples are given of differences in O(18)/O(16) ratios, TiO(2) content, lattice substitutions, substitution of Al (III) for Si (IV) and attachments to spare hydrostatic charges.

In plain English

This short 1974 paper by a geologist at the University of Glasgow was not a study of people or animals. It summarized geological, geochemical and mineralogical factors to consider when trying to "type" asbestos minerals so they can be compared with mineral particles extracted from body tissue. The author explained that chrysotile develops from ultrabasic rocks in mobile belts near major plate boundaries, and that the proportions of two forms (isotopes) of oxygen may vary between asbestos deposits and within a single deposit. Drawing on earlier work by the author and a colleague, the paper noted that similar-looking amphibole-rich bedrock in New York City differed in titanium dioxide content by a factor of 12. The author wrote that this portends differences in how amphiboles inhaled and ingested by tunnel construction workers respond to body fluids. The paper described how substitutions in the crystal structure of amphiboles, including aluminium replacing silicon, may change fragment size, length-to-breadth ratio and surface properties. The author concluded that these variations give body fluids a "multichoice situation". The paper ended with a speculative question about whether silicate minerals were precursors of a genetic code.

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: Short commentary summarizing geological, geochemical and mineralogical factors relevant to identifying asbestos minerals; no new experiments or data on people
• Who was studied: No people were studied. The paper discusses asbestos mineral deposits and rocks, with an example from amphibolites of the Manhattan Formation, New York City (drawn from earlier work by Bowes and Langer)
• Exposure: Asbestos minerals: chrysotile and the amphibole asbestos minerals anthophyllite, amosite, crocidolite and tremolite (-actinolite), discussed as minerals rather than as measured exposures
• Main results:
  • The proportions of two forms (isotopes) of oxygen may vary from one asbestos body to another and within a single body
  • In New York City bedrock (from earlier work by Bowes and Langer), similar-looking amphibole-rich rocks differed in titanium dioxide proportions by a factor of 12. The author wrote that this portends differences in surface properties and in the response to biological fluids of amphiboles inhaled and ingested by tunnel construction workers
  • Many amphibole-bearing rocks show evidence of more than one phase of amphibole growth, with varying chemistry and often varying shape
  • In the amphibole formula, silicon can be replaced up to about 25% by trivalent ions, particularly aluminium
  • Aluminium substitution for silicon occurs only at certain silicon sites parallel to the cleavage plane. In this way the size of cleavage fragments, their length/breadth ratio and their surface properties may be changed
  • The author raised a speculative question, which the author called possibly esoteric: whether silicate minerals with sheet and chain lattice structures are precursors of a genetic code
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that variations in shape, size, surface properties and chemical composition of amphibole asbestos minerals provide body fluids with a "multichoice situation"

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos.

Related studies

• Identification and quantitation of asbestos in talc — A.N. Rohl, A.M. Langer (1974)
• Approaches and constraints to identification and quantitation of asbestos fibers — A.M. Langer (1974)
• Preparation and evaluation of a chrysotile asbestos-containing standard material for validating x-ray diffractometric quantitation — T. Asahi, S. Kobayashi, et al. (2011)
• Procedure for the detection and identification of asbestos and other fibres in fibrous inorganic materials — L.J. Monkman (1979)
• A multifunctional mesothelin antibody-tagged microparticle targets human mesotheliomas — S.L. Macura, J.M. Hillegass, et al. (2012)
• High aspect ratio materials: role of surface chemistry vs. length in the historical "long and short amosite asbestos fibers" — M. Tomatis, F. Turci, et al. (2010)

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