Abstract
ASBESTOS fibres have been reported to penetrate the walls of the stomach and intestine of animals1,2. Earlier work at this institution showed that asbestos fibres can pass through the walls of the digestive tract and travel throughout the body3,4. Additional work with neutron-activated asbestos also indicated that asbestos could cross the placenta but definite confirmation of this was not obtained4. Here we show, by electron microscopy, that asbestos fibres can cross the placenta but that the extent to which this occurs is highly variable.
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References
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Westlake, G. E., Spujt, H. J., and Smith, M. N., Lab. Invest., 14, 2029 (1965).
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Pontefract, R. D., and Cunningham, H. M., Nature, 243, 352 (1973).
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CUNNINGHAM, H., PONTEFRACT, R. Placental transfer of asbestos. Nature 249, 177–178 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/249177a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/249177a0
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