COMPARISON OF BIOPERSISTENCE OF EXPERIMENTAL GLASS-FIBERS IN THE LUNGAND PERITONEAL-CAVITY

Thirty three female Fischer-344 rats were intra-peritoneally (IP) inje cted with 5 mg of an experimental glass fibre designated X7753. This f ibre type had an in vitro dissolution rate of 600 ng cm(-2)h(-1). Grou ps of three rats were killed at various times up to one year after inj ection. The diaphragm and any fibre nodules were removed from the carc ass and separately digested using hypochlorite solution, to recover th e fibres. The number and morphometry of the fibres was measured using phase contrast optical microscopy (PCOM) and semi-automatic image anal ysis. The data obtained were compared to the previous studies of the d urability of the X7753 fibres in the lung.