Biomaterial Database

Quantitative relationship of fecal asbestos to asbestos exposure. 1976

H M Cunningham, and R D Pontefract, and R C O'Brien

A method is descirbed for isolating chrysotile fibers from feces and counting them with an electron microscope. The detection limit was 150,000 fibers per gram feces; average recovery was 85.5%. When the method was used to check the asbestos in feces of people subjected to industrial exposure vs. controls, the means were significantly different (p less than 0.02). Duplicate fecal samples were found to check within an average of +/- 31.1% of their means.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008722	Methods	A series of steps taken in order to conduct research.	Techniques,Methodological Studies,Methodological Study,Procedures,Studies, Methodological,Study, Methodological,Method,Procedure,Technique
D008854	Microscopy, Electron	Microscopy using an electron beam, instead of light, to visualize the sample, thereby allowing much greater magnification. The interactions of ELECTRONS with specimens are used to provide information about the fine structure of that specimen. In TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY the reactions of the electrons that are transmitted through the specimen are imaged. In SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY an electron beam falls at a non-normal angle on the specimen and the image is derived from the reactions occurring above the plane of the specimen.	Electron Microscopy
D005243	Feces	Excrement from the INTESTINES, containing unabsorbed solids, waste products, secretions, and BACTERIA of the DIGESTIVE SYSTEM.
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001194	Asbestos	Asbestos. Fibrous incombustible mineral composed of magnesium and calcium silicates with or without other elements. It is relatively inert chemically and used in thermal insulation and fireproofing. Inhalation of dust causes asbestosis and later lung and gastrointestinal neoplasms.