Lung retention of antimony and arsenic in hamsters after the intratracheal instillation of industrial dust.

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Abstract
Airborne factory dust (with a volume median diameter of 5.0 .mu.m and a geometric SD of 2.1 .mu.m) from a Swedish Cu smeltery contained Sb (1.6 wt%) and As (19 wt%). The dust was neutron activated and intratracheally instilled in hamsters. In vivo measurements of lung clearance were undertaken of the radionuclides 76As, 122Sb and 124Sb. Comparison was made with pure substances of Sb2O3 and As2O3. Two phases were recognized in the clearance curves. The approximate half-time for the initial phase was 13 h for As2O3, 20 h for As dust, .apprx. 40 h for Sb2O3 and .apprx. 30 h Sb dust. The 2nd phase had an approximate half-time of 20-40 days for Sb2O3 and Sb dust. Because of the short physical half-life of 76As, the 2nd phase of the lung clearance was not followed for As2O3 and As dust. The observed differences in clearance were primarily related to the solubility of the dust particles in saline, while particle size seemed to be less important in this instillation experiment. The low solubility of Sb in factory dust combined with a long biological half-time may be of importance in explaining the observed lung accumulation of Sb in exposed workers. The greater solubility and shorter biological half-time restricted the lung retention of As.

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