The activity of environmental samples in a cell culture test for asbestos toxicity

Our plain-English summary of The activity of environmental samples in a cell culture test for asbestos toxicity, by B. Reiss, J.R. Millette, G.M. Williams (Environmental Research, 1980).

The study

• Authors: B. Reiss, J.R. Millette, G.M. Williams
• Journal: Environmental Research
• Published: 1980;22(2):315-21
• Cited by: 10 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The inhibition of colony-forming efficiency of cultured human embryonic intestine-derived epithelial (I-407) cells was utilized in order to assay the toxic potential of six coded samples of particulate matter provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The results of the assay indicated that the most toxic of the EPA samples tested “blindly” was amosite which was equal in toxicity to the amosite used, by chance, as a positive control. The toxicities of the particulates from drinking water were approximately 100-fold less than the amosite; of these, the order of toxicity of the samples was San Francisco > Seattle > Duluth. The samples of attapulgite clay and taconite tailings displayed approximately half the toxicity of the drinking water particulates. These results indicate that this assay provides a sensitive and accurate method for screening asbestos and asbestiform contamination for potential toxicity.

PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

In plain English

This laboratory study tested how toxic six coded particle samples, supplied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, were to cultured human embryonic intestine-derived epithelial cells (the I-407 line). The samples were tested blind. They were particles filtered from drinking water in San Francisco, Seattle and Duluth (the Duluth sample was taken before a filtration plant was installed), taconite tailings, attapulgite clay, and amosite asbestos. Toxicity was measured as the reduction in cell colonies formed. The amosite sample was the most toxic, halving colony formation at about 0.01 g/liter, similar to the amosite used as a known comparison. The drinking water particles were about 100-fold less toxic than amosite. Among them, San Francisco was the most toxic, then Seattle, then Duluth. Attapulgite clay and taconite tailings did not halve colony formation even at 5.0 g/liter, the highest concentration tested. The authors reported that toxicity tracked the samples' asbestos content. They concluded that the test is a sensitive and accurate way to screen asbestos and asbestiform contamination for potential toxicity.

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 cell culture (in vitro) cytotoxicity test of coded samples whose identities were unknown to the testers until testing was finished
• Who was studied: Cultured human embryonic intestine-derived epithelial cells (I-407 line); toxicity was measured as inhibition of colony formation
• Exposure: Six EPA samples: particulates filtered from San Francisco, Seattle and Duluth drinking water (Duluth before filtration plant installation), taconite tailings, attapulgite clay, and amosite asbestos; tested over 0.001 to 5.0 g/liter. A UICC amosite reference sample served as the positive control.
• Main results:
  • Amosite (sample 8) was the most toxic sample, with a dose producing a 50% decrease in colonies of approximately 0.01 g/liter
  • The toxicity of the coded amosite sample was similar to that of the amosite control
  • Drinking water particulates were approximately 100-fold less toxic than amosite
  • San Francisco drinking water sample (sample 3): 50% colony-reduction dose between 0.75 and 1.0 g/liter
  • Seattle drinking water sample (sample 2): 50% colony-reduction dose between 1.0 and 2.5 g/liter
  • Duluth drinking water sample (sample 1), taken before filtration plant installation: 50% colony-reduction dose between 2.5 and 5.0 g/liter
  • Attapulgite clay (sample 5) and taconite tailings (sample 4): 50% colony-reduction doses were greater than 5.0 g/liter
  • The authors reported that the samples' toxicities correlated closely with the asbestos content given in the EPA's analysis, which was provided after the assays were completed
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the assay provides a sensitive and accurate method for screening asbestos and asbestiform contamination for potential toxicity
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The assay was not performed above 5.0 g/liter because a homogeneous suspension was difficult to obtain at high concentrations

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Amosite, Palygorskite (Attapulgite), Taconite, Tailings, Asbestiform.

Related studies

• In vitro activity of silicon carbide whiskers in comparison to other industrial fibers using four cell culture systems — N.F. Johnson, M.D. Hoover, et al. (1992)
• Human mesothelioma cells and asbestos-exposed mesothelial cells are selectively resistant to amosite toxicity: a possible mechanism for tumor promotion by asbestos — E.W. Gabrielson, A. Van der Meeren, et al. (1992)
• Absence of mutagenic activity of three forms of asbestos in liver epithelial cells — B. Reiss, S. Solomon, et al. (1982)
• Cell toxicity, hemolytic action and clastogenic activity of asbestos and its substitutes — K. Koshi, N. Kohyama, et al. (1991)
• Comparative toxicities of different forms of asbestos in a cell culture assay — B. Reiss, S. Solomon, et al. (1980)
• Toxicity of cell culture medium due to filtration through asbestos pads — W. House (1964)

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