ABSTRACT
Objectives: To evaluate the pulmonary toxicity of Korean Chrysotile(KC), the lung function and the number of fibers in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of Sprague-Dawley rats instilled with KC were estimated.

Materials: Rats were administered 1 mg KC by a single intratracheal instillation. At each time point(5 days, 5 weeks, 10 weeks), the lung function of the rats was analyzed by pressure transducer and the amount of asbestos in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of the rats was calculated by transmission electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer.

Results: The lung function of the rats at 5 days after instillation of KC was confirmed to be degraded. However, after 5 weeks the test groups showed a tendency to recover lung function. Still, after 10 weeks the lung function of the test groups had not recovered completely. The number of fibers in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of the rats instilled with KC rapidly decreased. At 5 weeks the number of fibers had reduced to approximately 1/2 of that found at 5 days. Over time, at 10 weeks it had rapidly decreased to 1/100 that found at 5 days.

Conclusions: Korean chrysotile fibers rapidly decreased in the lungs of rats, but the lung function of rats instilled KC does had not completely recovered by 10 weeks.

Keyword
Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, Korean Chrysotile, lung function, rat