| Objective. To explore possible relations between respiratory health and lung fiber burden, lung fiber dimensions, and lung fiber biopersistence in eight refractory ceramic fiber (RCF) production workers at two RCF production facilities.;Results and discussion. The results of the tissue analysis indicated that RCF can be identified within the lung parenchyma of RCF exposed individuals at levels higher than a non-exposed population, that a percent of the fibers are greater than 20 mum in length with high impact ratios, and there is some evidence that the fibers can undergo degradation within lung tissue.;Methods. The population of interest was non-production and production workers at RCF production facilities who were currently employed or who were former employees with at least one-year duration in a RCF production job task and hired before December 31, 1997. Data was collected on occupational history, respiratory health, chest radiographs, pulmonary function studies, histology of available lung tissue, and lung tissue RCF fiber burden. |
