Abstract
THE solubility, in water, of various dusts (such as felspar, asbestos, calcined flint) known to produce silicosis, is found by Prof. H. V. A. Briscoe, P. F. Holt, J. W. Matthews and P. M. Sanderson to be a complex phenomenon depending upon tissue, particle size, quantity of dust submitted and presence of extraneous substances. Freshly fractured surfaces of silica and certain silicates appear to be in a highly reactive state, and yield alkalis and ‘soluble’ silica to water to a greater extent than in the normal state. The particles lose their reactivity after a certain time, and this may explain the failure to produce silicosis in animals in experiments with ‘dead’ dusts.
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Points from Foregoing Letters. Nature 139, 762 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/139762a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/139762a0