Document yLJYD9vw2LxrLXpzogmGJZ4d

Industrial Hygiene Digest INDUSTRIAL HEALTH NEWS LITERATURE ABSTRACTS MEDICAL JULY, 1955 (VoL 19, No. 7) INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE FOUNDATION 4400 FIFTH AVENUE PITTSBURGH 13..PA- L'irH' i luuuaifm nygiene Digest July, 1955 silicic acid with, a high degree of polymerization distinctly inhibited mo bility and phagocytosis, that freshly prepared polysilicic acid had very little effect, and that monosilicic acid had no effect at all oa phagocytosis, -- Bull. Hyg. 854 The Reactivity of Finely Ground Quartz. C. Claeys and E. Quinot. Staub, No. 37, 393-403 (Sept. 15, 1954), German. The surface layers of finely ground quartz and of silica were dissolved in distilled water. Optical, electrical, and chemical proper ties of the solutions were investigated, and their visible and ultraviolet absorption spectra were examined. Anomalies in the quartz spectra are attributed to carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide content of the solu- tion, estimated by Van Slyke's method, was greater than could be ac counted for by carbon dioxide dissolved in the distilled and degassed water used in the experiments. The abnormal reactivity of finely ground quartz particles is ascribed to the presence of carbon dioxide, in the shape of carboxyl groups forming a complex with the silica. It is claimed that several biological effects of fine quartz may be explained by means of this hypothesis. -- Cond. from Bull. Hyg. 855 Primary Cortical-Cell Tumor of the Peritoneum in a Case of Asbestosis. F. Leicher. Arch. Gewerbepath. Gewerbehyg. 1_3^, 382-392 (l954). German. A case of asbestosis following long exposure to asbestos is described. In addition to typical symptoms and findings, leptomenin gitis was present and tubercle bacilli were found in the spinal fluid. The patient died with cachexia. Autopsy showed tuberculosis of the lumbar spine with bilateral psoas abscess and mixed infection in both lungs. Asbestosis, stage two, was found in the lungs with definite fi brosis; there was slight asbestosis in the lymphatic glands, and asbes tos bodies were found in the spleen. On the peritoneum of the mesen tery and over the peritoneal cavity there were thickened patches and many small nodules; a flat tumor, half the size of a hand and 1 cm. in thickness, was attached to the peritoneum on the under side of the dia phragm. The results of the examination of the tumor are fully describ ed and illustrated. Asbestos was found in the tumor tissues by x-ray diffraction. It is uncertain how the asbestos reached the peritoneal cav ity; the most probable route was thought to be by direct penetration of the asbestos fibers from the lung through the pleura and thence through the diaphragm.