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The isotherms for adsorption of some organic molecules on asbestos fibres have been determined by gas chromatography. The results show that the adsorption mechanism lies somewhere between physisorption and chemisorption. The degree of adsorption at a given temperature, for the compounds studied, is toluene > tetrahydrofuran > benzene > dichloromethane.

Cytotoxicity of respirable dusts from industrial minerals: comparison of two naturally occurring and two man-made silicates.

The membranolytic and cytotoxic properties of two naturally occurring (chrysotile asbestos; attapulgite clay) and two man-made (Fiberfrax, an aluminium-silicate, and xonotlite, a calcium silicate) industrial minerals were compared. "Short" fiber fractions of chrysotile and Fiberfrax were obtained by sedimentation in demineralized water, while the attapulgite and xonotlite samples were used as obtained. The aluminium silicate fibers were found to be non- hemolytic, while for the other three silicates, chrysotile had the strongest hemolysis potential, followed very closely by xonotlite; attapulgite was less hemolytic than the former two silicates, but was nevertheless highly hemolytic to the rat erythrocytes.

The adsorption of polyaromatic hydrocarbons on natural and chemically modified asbestos fibers.

Many reports indicate that the carcinogenic (genotoxic) potential of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) may be enhanced several-fold by the promoter (epigenetic) effect of asbestos particles. This promoting effect could be related to the fact that when B[a]P is adsorbed onto the particles, there is a resulting enhanced transport and uptake of the carcinogen into microsomial membranes. These in vitro data bear relevance to the epidemiological studies which indicate an association between exposure to inhaled asbestos dusts and the high incidence of pulmonary cancers in smokers.