Skip to main content
PMC home page
Environmental Health Perspectives logoLink to Environmental Health Perspectives
. 1983 Nov;53:121–130. doi: 10.1289/ehp.8353121

Review of published studies on gut penetration by ingested asbestos fibers.

P M Cook
PMCID: PMC1569087  PMID: 6662082

Abstract

During the 1970s, potential health risks associated with exposure to asbestos in drinking water became a national concern. One of the key questions that arose from debate over whether ingestion of mineral fibers could result in increased gastrointestinal cancer risk was whether fibers can penetrate the gastrointestinal mucosa and thus have some chance of residing in tissue. It is likely that such movement of a large number of fibers is a necessary precursor for carcinogenesis following ingestion of asbestos. Studies of the potential for fiber accumulation in tissues and body fluids following introduction of asbestos to the alimentary canal have provided seemingly contradictory observations. This review, which places particular emphasis on the impact of experimental and analytical limitations on the evidential strengths of each study, indicates the likelihood that a very small fraction of ingested microscopic asbestos fibers penetrates the gastrointestinal mucosa. A reliable estimate of the magnitude of long-term fiber retention in tissues as a consequence of chronic human ingestion of asbestos cannot be made at this time.

Full text

PDF
123

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Auerbach O., Hammond E. C., Selikoff I. J., Parks V. R., Kaslow H. D., Garfinkel L. Asbestos bodies in lung parenchyma in relation to ingestion and inhalation of mineral fibers. Environ Res. 1977 Oct;14(2):286–304. doi: 10.1016/0013-9351(77)90038-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BAKER G., JONES L. H. Opal in the animal body. Nature. 1961 Feb 25;189:682–683. doi: 10.1038/189682a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bignon J., Sebastien P., Gaudichet A., Jaurand M. C. Biological effects of attapulgite. IARC Sci Publ. 1980;(30):163–181. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bockman D. E., Cooper M. D. Pinocytosis by epithelium associated with lymphoid follicles in the bursa of Fabricius, appendix, and Peyer's patches. An electron microscopic study. Am J Anat. 1973 Apr;136(4):455–477. doi: 10.1002/aja.1001360406. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bolton R. E., Davis J. M., Lamb D. The pathological effects of prolonged asbestos ingestion in rats. Environ Res. 1982 Oct;29(1):134–150. doi: 10.1016/0013-9351(82)90014-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bolton R. E., Davis J. M. The short-term effects of chronic asbestos ingestion in rats. Ann Occup Hyg. 1976 Nov;19(2):121–128. doi: 10.1093/annhyg/19.2.121. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Carter R. E., Taylor W. F. Identification of a particular amphibole asbestos fiber in tissues of persons exposed to a high oral intake of the mineral. Environ Res. 1980 Feb;21(1):85–93. doi: 10.1016/0013-9351(80)90010-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Cook P. M., Olson G. F. Ingested mineral fibers: elimination in human urine. Science. 1979 Apr 13;204(4389):195–198. doi: 10.1126/science.219478. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Cook P. M., Palekar L. D., Coffin D. L. Interpretation of the carcinogenicity of amosite asbestos and ferroactinolite on the basis of retained fiber dose and characteristics in vivo. Toxicol Lett. 1982 Oct;13(3-4):151–158. doi: 10.1016/0378-4274(82)90203-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Cook P. M. Preparation of extrapulmonary tissues and body fluids for quantitative transmission electron microscope analysis of asbestos and other mineral particle concentrations. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1979;330:717–724. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1979.tb18776.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Cunningham H. M., Moodie C. A., Lawrence G. A., Pontefract R. D. Chronic effects of ingested asbestos in rats. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 1977;6(4):507–513. doi: 10.1007/BF02097789. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Cunningham H. M., Pontefract R. D. Asbestos fibers in beverages, drinking water, and tissues: their passage through the intestinal wall and movement through the body. J Assoc Off Anal Chem. 1973 Jul;56(4):976–986. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Cunningham H. M., Pontefract R. D. Placental transfer of asbestos. Nature. 1974 May 10;249(453):177–178. doi: 10.1038/249177a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Donham K. J., Berg J. W., Will L. A., Leininger J. R. The effects of long-term ingestion of asbestos on the colon of F344 rats. Cancer. 1980 Mar 15;45(5 Suppl):1073–1084. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19800315)45:5+<1073::aid-cncr2820451308>3.0.co;2-w. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Gross P., Harley R. A., Swinburne L. M., Davis J. M., Greene W. B. Ingested mineral fibers. Do they penetrate tissue or cause cancer? Arch Environ Health. 1974 Dec;29(6):341–347. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1974.10666612. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hallenbeck W. H., Markey D. R., Dolan D. G. Analyses of tissue, blood, and urine samples from a baboon gavaged with chrysotile and crocidolite asbestos. Environ Res. 1981 Aug;25(2):349–360. doi: 10.1016/0013-9351(81)90037-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Hallenbeck W. H., Patel-Mandlik K. J. Presence of fibers in the urine of a baboon gavaged with chrysotile asbestos. Environ Res. 1979 Dec;20(2):335–340. doi: 10.1016/0013-9351(79)90009-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Joel D. D., Laissue J. A., LeFevre M. E. Distribution and fate of ingested carbon particles in mice. J Reticuloendothel Soc. 1978 Nov;24(5):477–487. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Langer A. M. Inorganic particles in human tissues and their association with neoplastic disease. Environ Health Perspect. 1974 Dec;9:229–233. doi: 10.1289/ehp.749229. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. LeFevre M. E., Hancock D. C., Joel D. D. Intestinal barrier to large particulates in mice. J Toxicol Environ Health. 1980 Jul;6(4):691–704. doi: 10.1080/15287398009529888. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. LeFevre M. E., Olivo R., Vanderhoff J. W., Joel D. D. Accumulation of latex in Peyer's patches and its subsequent appearance in villi and mesenteric lymph nodes. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1978 Nov;159(2):298–302. doi: 10.3181/00379727-159-40336. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Nottle M. C. Plant particles in kidneys and mesenteric lymph nodes of sheep. Aust Vet J. 1977 Aug;53(8):404–405. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-0813.1977.tb07968.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Owen R. L., Jones A. L. Epithelial cell specialization within human Peyer's patches: an ultrastructural study of intestinal lymphoid follicles. Gastroenterology. 1974 Feb;66(2):189–203. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Patel-Mandlik K. J., Hallenbeck W. H., Millette J. R. Asbestos fibers: 1. A modified preparation of tissue samples for analysis by electron microscopy. 2. Presence of fibers in tissues of baboon fed chrysotile asbestos. J Environ Pathol Toxicol. 1979 Jul-Aug;2(6):1385–1395. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Patel-Mandlik K. J., Millette J. R. Evidence of migration of ingested asbestos into various baboon organs. Scan Electron Microsc. 1980;(Pt 1):347–354. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Pontefract R. D., Cunningham H. M. Letter: Penetration of asbestos through the digestive tract of rats. Nature. 1973 Jun 8;243(5406):352–353. doi: 10.1038/243352a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. SANDERS E., ASHWORTH C. T. A study of particulate intestinal absorption and hepatocellular uptake. Use of polystyrene latex particles. Exp Cell Res. 1961 Jan;22:137–145. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(61)90092-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Schreiber G. Ingested dyed cellulose in the blood and urine of man. Arch Environ Health. 1974 Jul;29(1):39–42. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1974.10666525. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Sebastien P., Masse R., Bignon J. Recovery of ingested asbestos fibers from the gastrointestinal lymph in rats. Environ Res. 1980 Jun;22(1):201–216. doi: 10.1016/0013-9351(80)90132-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Selikoff I. J., Hammond E. C., Seidman H. Mortality experience of insulation workers in the United States and Canada, 1943--1976. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1979;330:91–116. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1979.tb18711.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Storeygard A. R., Brown A. L., Jr Penetration of the small intestinal mucosa by asbestos fibers. Mayo Clin Proc. 1977 Dec;52(12):809–812. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Volkheimer G. Passage of particles through the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. Environ Health Perspect. 1974 Dec;9:215–225. doi: 10.1289/ehp.749215. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. WYSS V. Presenza di aghi di amianto nelle urine di operai esposti al rischio asbestosico. Rass Med Ind Ig Lav. 1953 Jan-Feb;22(1):55–56. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Westlake G. E., Spjut H. J., Smith M. N. Penetration of colonic mucosa by asbestos particles. An electron microscopic study in rats fed asbestos dust. Lab Invest. 1965 Nov;14(11):2029–2033. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Winkler G. C., Rüttner J. R. Penetration of asbestos fibers in the visceral peritoneum of mice. A scanning electron microscopic study. Exp Cell Biol. 1982;50(4):187–194. doi: 10.1159/000163146. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Environmental Health Perspectives are provided here courtesy of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

RESOURCES