Tumorigenesis by a ferroactinolite mineral.

In lifetime exposure of male Fischer-344 rats to ferroactinolite fibers and to UICC amosite asbestos fibers by means of intratracheal and intrapleural treatments, oncogenesis was greater in the lung for the ferroactinolite and in the pleura for the amosite. The lack of correlation between the effects of the two methods of exposure suggests that in this instance intrapleural inoculation was not a good predictor of pulmonary response on the basis of mass dose. Another feature of the ferroactinolite was that pleural tumors resulted from intratracheal instillations. Conversely, lung tumors or tumorlike lesions were also induced by intrapleural inoculations of ferroactinolite. These facts suggest a greater in vivo transport for the ferroactinolite than for the amosite. Since there are far fewer mineral fibers per mass unit in the ferroactinolite the tumor yield per unit of mineral fibers was strikingly greater by both routes of administration for ferroactinolite than for amosite.