Calculated solubility of chrysotile asbestos in physiological systems

Chrysotile asbestos fibers which are ingested into a physiological system will dissolve in fluids to which they are exposed. The rate of dissolution can be estimated by formulating an appropriate rate law and retrieving rate constants from published experiments. The rate of dissolution calculated for asbestos fibers is dependent on the surface area of dissolving mineral, mass of solution to which the fibers are exposed within cells, the rate of transport of H+ into the cells, and the rate of transport of Mg2+ and SiO2 out of the cells. The maximum rate of dissolution of a single 10-micron X 1-micron fiber within a cell is 2.13 X 10(-7) moles hr-1 kg-1 consistent with dissolution rates measured in vivo by Morgan et al. (A. Morgan, A. Holmes, and C. Gold. Studies of the solubility of constituents of chrysotile asbestos in vivo using radioactive tracer techniques. Environ. Res. 4, 558-570, 1971).