Preparation of asbestos fibers for experimental use

Our plain-English summary of Preparation of asbestos fibers for experimental use, by M.S. Badollet, W.A. Gantt (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1965).

The study

• Authors: M.S. Badollet, W.A. Gantt
• Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
• Published: 1965;132(1):451-5
• Cited by: 8 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy.

In plain English

This paper described a laboratory method for preparing short asbestos fibers for biological experiments. It did not study people or animals. The authors aimed for fibers in a range below 100 microns long. They used high-grade crude Arizona soft chrysotile and Arizona harsh chrysotile ores supplied by the Johns-Manville Research and Engineering Center, plus a commercial amosite sample. Fiber bundles were cleaned of rock by hand and cut into pieces of about one-eighth of an inch or less. These were ground in distilled water in a Waring Blendor, usually two to three grams at a time, for 15 minutes and then for further 10-minute periods as needed. The fibers were then filtered, washed, dried and sieved. The authors measured 200 fibers per determination under a microscope. They reported that 92.5 to 98.5 per cent of fibers in the three preparations were under 100 microns long, and most were between 5 and 50 microns. The authors concluded that grinding in water was a convenient method. Biological tests appeared in a separate paper.

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: laboratory methods paper (preparation and measurement of asbestos fiber samples); no human or animal subjects
• Who was studied: Three asbestos samples: high-grade crude Arizona soft chrysotile ore and Arizona harsh chrysotile ore (supplied by the Johns-Manville Research and Engineering Center, Manville, New Jersey), and a commercial amosite sample
• Exposure: Soft chrysotile, harsh chrysotile and amosite fibers, hand-cleaned of rock, cut to about 1/8 inch or less, and wet-ground in distilled water in a Waring Blendor at full speed for 15 minutes, plus additional 10-minute periods as needed
• Main results:
  • Across the three prepared samples, 92.5 to 98.5 per cent of fibers were less than 100 microns long (200 fibers measured per determination)
  • In each of the three samples, most fibers were 5 to 50 microns long
  • The harsh chrysotile and amosite preparations had a shorter average fiber length than the soft chrysotile preparation, which the authors attributed to the greater brittleness of these varieties
  • Usually two to three grams were processed per run, because with larger amounts the slurry became thick and gel-like
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that they had described a convenient method for preparing asbestos fibers in lengths suitable for biological experiments, by grinding asbestos in water in a Waring Blendor

Related studies

• Studies of carcinogenesis of asbestos fibers and their natural oils — J.S. Harington, F.J. Roe (1965)
• The detection and localization of mineral fibers in tissue — C. Berkley, J. Churg, et al. (1965)
• An experimental approach to the evaluation of the biopersistence of respirable synthetic fibers and minerals — D.M. Bernstein, R. Mast, et al. (1994)
• Preparation of extrapulmonary tissues and body fluids for quantitative transmission electron microscope analysis of asbestos and other mineral particle concentrations — P.M. Cook (1979)
• Asbestos minerals in modern technology — S. Speil, J.P. Leineweber (1969)
• Mesotheliomas in rats following inoculation with acid-leached chrysotile asbestos and other mineral fibres — G. Monchaux, J. Bignon, et al. (1981)

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