Review of published studies of orally administered asbestos.

There has been great public concern about the adverse health effects resulting from the presence of asbestos fibers in municipal drinking water supplies. This article reviews and summarizes the experimental findings of 11 published papers that have evaluated the carcinogenic potential of asbestos following its ingestion. The long-term, high-level ingestion of various types of asbestos fibers in more than one animal species failed to produce any definite, reproducible, organ-specific carcinogenic effect.