Man-Made Mineral Fibres

(i) Deposition, retention and clearance

According to the World Health Organization, man-made mineral fibers (MMMF) are fibrous, inorganic materials primarily used for insulation and filtration applications. Among the most common types are glass fibers, rock and slag wool, and ceramic fibers. These fibers have distinct physical and chemical properties, which influence their behavior in the respiratory system.

A number of mechanisms result in the deposition of inhaled particles, both fibrous and nonfibrous, in the respiratory tract (Lippmann et al., 1980). Deposition in the nasopharyngeal region occurs mainly by inertial impaction due to the high velocity and abrupt changes in direction of the airstream. Deposition in the tracheobronchial region is determined by inertial impaction and by gravitational settling. A disproportionate amount of deposition in this region of both nonfibrous (Lippmann & Schlesinger, 1984) and fibrous (Morgan et al., 1975) particles occurs at airway bifurcations. On the basis of studies on humans, the estimated deposition of monodisperse particles in the pulmonary region peaks for mouth-breathing subjects at an aerodynamic equivalent diameter of ~3 µm and for nose-breathing subjects at ~ 2.5 µm (Lippmann et al., 1980). [The aerodynamic equivalent diameter of a particle is the diameter of a spherical particle of unit density which has the same falling speed.] Particles of this size are deposited mainly by sedimentation, but, for submicron particles, deposition by diffusion prevails. Other mechanisms are also important for fibrous materials: interception is important when the length of fibres becomes a significant fraction of the airway diameter; however, when fine, straight fibres are inhaled they tend to align themselves along the axes of airways due to the aerodynamic forces acting upon them so that they can penetrate effectively to the pulmonary region (Lippmann et al., 1980). The electrostatic enhancement of lung deposition of fibrous aerosols was reviewed by Vincent (1985), who suggested that it is important for polydisperse fine fibres.

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Rats were exposed by nose-only inhalation for 30 min to glass microfibres and to UICC standard reference samples of asbestos, and deposition was measured using a radioactive tracer technique. The amount of fibre respired was calculated from the aerosol concentration, exposure time and minute volume (Hammad et al., 1982). For glass microfibre and anthophyllite, which had activity median aerodynamic diameters of 2.3 and 2.0 µm, respectively, measured with the Cascade Centripeter, ~70% of the respired glass fibre was deposited throughout the respiratory tract, compared with less than half of the chrysotile and of the finer amphibole fibres (activity median aerodynamic diameters, 1.2 — 1.5 µm). [The activity mean aerodynamic diameter of an aerosol is determined from the distribution of radioactivity on the stages of a size-classifying sample previously calibrated with spherical particles of unit density. If the radioactivity is homogeneously distributed within the material, which is likely to be the case in the experiments described above, the activity mean aerodynamic diameter and mass median aerodynamic diameter will be identical.] Deposition in the alveolar region was relatively unaffected by activity median aerodynamic diameter and averaged about 11% (Morgan et al., 1977). In later studies by the same workers, rats were exposed to sized glass fibres with nominal diameters of 1.5 and 3 µm and lengths ranging from 5 to 60 µm. A similar radioactive tracer technique was used. All of the respired longer (⩽ 30 µm), 1.5-µm Diameter fibre was deposited, mainly in the upper respiratory tract; the same applied to thick fibres (diameter, 3 µm) ⩽10 µm in length. Deposition of these materials in the alveolar region was negligible and, in rats, appeared to peak at an aerodynamic diameter of ~2 µm, which is less than that in humans (Morgan et al., 1980).

Rats were exposed by nose-only inhalation for six days to unsized man-made mineral fibres. The fibres had a count median diameter of ~1 µm and a count median length of ~ 10 µm. They were recovered from lungs using a low-temperature ashing technique, and the fibre content of lung tissue was compared, for different size categories, with the estimated number of fibres respired. The retention of fibres with diameters <0.5 µm reached a peak of 8% at a fibre length of 21 µm; the retention of fibres with diameters >0.5 µm was <1 % for all fibre lengths. A correlation of retention with calculated aerodynamic equivalent diameter confirmed that fibres with an aerodynamic equivalent diameter of >3.5 µm were not found in the lung (i.e., were not respirable) (Hammad et al., 1982). These results, combined with those obtained using sized man-made mineral fibres, indicate that deposition in the alveolar region of rat lung must fall rapidly from a maximum at an aerodynamic equivalent diameter of 2 µm to effectively zero at about 3.5 µm.

Rats were exposed chronically to ‘microfibre’ glasswool (JM 100) and to thicker glass-and rockwool fibres at a concentration of 10 mg/ m3 on five days per week for periods of up to one year. The count median diameter of the glass microfibre (<0.5 µm) was less than that of either the rockwool (0.5—1 µm) or of the thicker glasswool (~1 µm). After one year’s exposure, the weights in the lung were 4.45 mg microfibre, 0.94 mg thicker glasswool and 3.11 mg rockwool, indicating that the microfibre was more respirable. No fibre longer than 30 µm was found in the lungs, although they were present in the airborne dust cloud (Wagner et al., 1984). In a similar study, Le Bouffant et al. (1987) exposed rats to the same microfibre (JM 100) and to aerosols of different samples of thicker glass- and rockwool for periods of up to two years. In this study also, larger quantities of microfibre than of the thicker glasswool or the rockwool were found in the lungs. [The Working Group noted that, in the case of chronic inhalation exposure to fibres, it is difficult to derive accurate data on deposition, as clearance takes place simultaneously.]

After exposure of rats and hamsters by inhalation to monodisperse particles, the deposited material is not distributed evenly between the lung lobes: the apical region of the right lung receives a higher relative concentration, and the diaphragmatic regions receive less (Raabe et al., 1977). Similar observations have been made for glass fibres (Morgan et al., 1980) and for ceramic fibres; the disproportion of fibres between lobes increased with aerodynamic diameter (Rowhani & Hammad, 1984).

The physical clearance of particles deposited in the alveolar region of the lung is thought to be mediated by pulmonary alveolar macrophages (Morgan, A. et al., 1982). These phagocytic cells are found both in the interstitium and free in the alveolar spaces. Count median diameters of rat pulmonary alveolar macrophages range from 11 to 12 µm (Sykes et al., 1983a). Fibres that can be encompassed in their entirety by pulmonary alveolar macrophages can be mobilized and transported to the terminal bronchioles, from where they are cleared from the lung by mucociliary action. Fibres that are too long to be engulfed by a single cell may remain at the site of deposition or penetrate into the interstitium (Morgan, 1979). Similar size considerations apply to the clearance of fibres through lymph nodes associated with the lung (Le Bouffant et al., 1987).

Sized glass fibres (0.5 and 1 mg) were administered to rats by intratracheal instillation. Animals were killed serially, the lungs digested with sodium hypochlorite (Morgan & Holmes, 1984a) and the number of fibres determined by optical microscopy. Of the 5 × 1.5 µm (diameter) fibres and the 10 × 1.5 µm fibres present in the lung immediately after instillation, only 10% and 20%, respectively, remained in the lung after one year. With 30 × 1.5 µm fibres and 60 × 1.5 µm fibres, there was no evidence of clearance over the same period, suggesting that the critical length of fibres for removal from the lung is between 10 and 30 µm (Morgan, A. et al., 1982). In studies with some of the same sized glass fibres, a radioactive tracer method (65Zn; half-life, 245 days) was used to quantify the clearance of 5 × 1.5 µm and 60 × 1.5 µm fibres from the lung of rats. In contrast to the results of the previous study, it was reported that there was relatively rapid clearance of both types of fibre (half-life, one month) and that the clearance curves did not differ significantly (Bernstein et al., 1980). [The Working Group noted that observations that are based on the removal of a radioactive constituent of the fibre from the lung do not enable physical clearance to be distinguished from dissolution and may give misleading results.]

In the same study, only short glass fibres were found in regional lymph nodes 18 months after intratracheal instillation (Bernstein et al., 1984). At various times after exposure of rats by inhalation to glass microfibres (JM 100) and to thicker glass- and rockwool fibres, much greater numbers of the thin microfibres than of either glass- or rockwool were transported to the tracheobronchial lymph nodes. With all of these materials, the fibres in the lymph nodes were shorter than those in the lungs, with very few fibres > 10 µm in length (Le Bouffant et al., 1987).

Following injection of glasswool (JM 104; count median length, 6 µm; count median diameter, 0.23 µm) or asbestos into the pleural cavity of rats, translocation of glass fibre (in terms of number concentration) to the mediastinal lymph nodes was less than that of the asbestiform minerals; however, in mass terms, they were equivalent. Less than 1% of the injected fibres was transported to the lung, but, as ascertained by transmission electron microscopy, the mean length of fibres recovered from lung increased with time. Fibres at concentrations of 106— 107 fibres/g of tissue were detected in a range of organs, including lung, spleen, kidney, liver and brain; in the intrathoracic lymph nodes, the concentration was ten- to 100-fold higher. These figures suggest that migration occurred via the bloodstream (Monchaux et al., 1982).

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Solubility in vivo: The solubility of man-made mineral fibres and asbestos fibres, both in vivo and in vitro, has been reviewed (Morgan & Holmes, 1986).

In a study of lung clearance using sized glass fibres, Morgan, A. et al. (1982) noted that short (⩽10 µm) fibres dissolved quite slowly and uniformly in rat lung. Fibres of ⩽30 µm in length dissolved much more rapidly and less uniformly; after 18 months, some had become so thin that they had fragmented, while the diameters of others were relatively unchanged. These observed variations in solubility were attributed to differences in physiological pH; for example, the intracellular pH of pulmonary alveolar macrophages is lower than that of the general lung environment (Laman et al., 1981). Following administration of the same fibres to rats, the fibres in lung sections were characterized using scanning electron microscopy. It was noted that long fibres that had been engulfed by pulmonary alveolar macrophages had dissolved more extensively than those lying free in the alveolar spaces (Bernstein et al., 1984). In both of these investigations, it was noted that the ends of long glass fibres dissolved more rapidly than the middle. In a later, analogous study, dimensional changes of sized rockwool fibres (count median length, 27 µm; count median diameter, 1.1 µm) in rat lung were characterized following their administration by intratracheal instillation. After 18 months, there was no change in the median diameter at the middle of the fibres, but it was observed qualitatively that fibres were becoming thinner at their ends. The authors concluded that the rockwool sample tested was much less soluble in vivo than the glasswool tested previously (Morgan & Holmes, 1984b).

Rats were exposed by inhalation to ‘microfibre’ glasswool (JM 100), to a thicker glasswool and to rockwool fibres for one or two years. At the end of the dusting period, gravimetric measurements showed that much greater quantities of the microfibre had been retained; however, after a further 16 months without dusting, the concentration of glass microfibres in the lung had been reduced to an extent similar to that of the thicker glasswool and rockwool fibres, indicating either a more rapid clearance or more rapid dissolution. Scanning electron microscopy of glass- and rockwool fibres isolated from the lung by low-temperature ashing showed that their surfaces were eroded; examination under the analytical electron microscope revealed that certain constituents of these fibres (mainly sodium and calcium) had been lost (Le Bouffant et al., 1987). Glass microfibres removed from rat lung following chronic exposure and examined by transmission electron microscopy appeared to be more susceptible to surface etching (irregularities in their outlines, loss of electron density, appearance of pits along their edges) than either thicker glasswool or rockwool fibres (Johnson et al., 1984).

The durability of some man-made mineral fibres, including various glasswool, rockwool and ceramic fibres, was studied in rat lung over a period of two years following intratracheal instillation. Both the number of fibres and the size distribution of fibres remaining in the lung were determined by transmission electron microscopy. Count median diameters ranged from 0.1—0.2 µm for glass microfibres to 1.8 µm for rockwool. In all cases, fibres <5 µm in length were removed from the lung more rapidly than longer fibres; however, there was a wide variation in the clearance rates of the latter. Acid-treated JM 104 E glass microfibre was cleared very rapidly, apparently by dissolution; untreated microfibre (JM 104/Tempstran 475) was scarcely cleared at all, but some leaching of sodium and calcium was detected. Of the other fibres, the ceramic fibre had the longest residence time (half-life, 780 days for fibres >5 µm in length), compared with 280 days for rockwool fibres >5 µm in length and for thicker glasswool. The authors concluded that fibres with a high calcium content dissolve most rapidly in vivo and that calcium content is a more important determinant of solubility than sodium or potassium content (Bellmann et al., 1987).

Solubility in vitro: A number of studies have been made of the solubility of man-made mineral fibres in vitro, using both static and continuous-flow systems. [The Working Group noted that the latter approximates more closely to the situation in vivo.] The dissolution of specific constituents has been quantified by analysis of the leachate (Forster, 1984; Klingholz & Steinkopf, 1984).

Man-made mineral fibres were quite stable in water at 37°C, but their solubilities increased in simulated extracellular fluid: with Gamble’s solution, fibres dissolved more rapidly in continuous-flow than in static systems; it was reported in one study that slagwool dissolved more rapidly than glasswool, which dissolved more rapidly than rockwool (Klingholz & Steinkopf, 1984). [The Working Group noted that only single samples of each type of fibre were tested.] With glass fibres, the square root of the weight of individual undiss