[Exposure to ceramic fibers in the work environment. II. Occupational exposure to dust in plants producing ceramic fiber; fibrogenic effect of the fibers].

The aim of the work was to assess the exposure to dust containing ceramic fibres among workers employed in the plant producing aluminosilicate fibres, and to investigate fibrogenic properties of produced ceramic aluminosilicate fibres (L-1). The studies carried out in the work environment revealed that workers were exposed to dust containing respirable fibres from materials produced (fibres, mats). Mean concentrations of these fibres ranged from 0.07 to 0.37 f/cm3 and they were considerably lower than MAC value (1 f/cm3) proposed for respirable ceramic fibres. Mean total dust concentrations ranged from 0.4 to 2.9 mg/m3, and at two working posts they exceeded the proposed MAC value (2 mg/m3). In animal experiments (Wistar female rats) a single dose (25 mg) of L-1 fibres administered intratracheally induced pathological symptoms in lungs, limited to reactive changes in the form of granuloma with weakly pronounced cytolysis, and mean levels of hydroxyproline in the lungs did not differ significantly from the physiological level. The L-1 fibre was classified in the group of dusts with insignificant fibrogenic effects.