Comparative inhalation hazards of aluminum and brass powders using bronchopulmonary lavage as an indicator of lung damage.
Bronchopulmonary lavage has been used as a rapid screening test for acute lung injury from many pneumotoxic chemicals. We demonstrated the efficacy of lavage fluid analysis for detection of acute pulmonary damage from inhaled metal dusts. Groups of male, Fischer 344 rats were exposed 4 h to one of five dosage levels of either brass (200, 100, 50, 10, 1 mg m-3) or aluminum (1000, 200, 100, 50, 10 mg m-3). At 24 h, 14 days and 3 months post-exposure (PE), rats were evaluated for physiological and histological alterations to correlate with enzymatic and cytological profiles of lavage fluid. At 24 h PE, there were dose-related increases in lactate dehydrogenase and protein in lavage fluid of the brass exposed rats, acute inflammatory response in terminal airways, increases in macrophages and neutrophils, and increased pulmonary resistance. All reactions were resolved by 14 days PE. In contrast, aluminum powder produced no alteration in pulmonary function, but elicited persistent changes in enzymatic and cytological lavage fluid parameters with multifocal microgranulomas in lungs and hilar lymph nodes. Bronchopulmonary lavage analysis was useful as an indicator of inhalation hazards of brass and aluminum powders.
D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000633:toxicity; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000032:analysis; D000497:Alloys / Q000633:toxicity*; D000535:Aluminum / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D003300:Copper / Q000633:toxicity*; D004391:Dust / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000032:analysis; D008168:Lung / Q000032:analysis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000187:drug effects; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D007507:Therapeutic Irrigation; D015032:Zinc / Q000633:toxicity*
D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D000497:Alloys; D004391:Dust; D011506:Proteins; C048399:brass; D003300:Copper; D000535:Aluminum; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase; D015032:Zinc