The optical and electron microscopic determination of pulmonary asbestos fibre concentration and its relation to the human pathological reaction

摘要

The quantitative extraction of asbestos fibres from asbestotic lung by alkali digestion has been refined by maceration of the tissue without prior drying, the minimum use of centrifugation, and the adoption of phase contrast microscopy. Preliminary experiments suggested that, using this technique, asbestos fibre counts were accurate to within at least ± 20% and in most instances to within ± 10%.