Toxicological effects on mice following inhalation exposures to fluidized-bed coal combustor fly ash

Toxicological effects of exposure to reaerosolized fly ash from a fluidized-bed coal combustor were evaluated in mice following 500- and 1000-hr inhalation exposures. Alveolar macrophage function, organ histology, and hematopoiesis were assessed following 24-hr/day exposures in two 500-hr experiments. There was little mutagenicity detected by the Ames assay in the samples of the fly ash tested. The chemical characteristics of the fly ash were very similar to those of fly ash produced during conventional coal combustion. However, physical characterization revealed that the fluidized-bed combustion fly ash was not fused as is commonly the case in conventionally combusted fly ash, and as a result had a very large surface area. The function of the alveolar macrophages of exposed mice was impaired, and there were significant changes in the histology of the lung, including cellular infiltration and hyperplasia of bronchiolar and alveolar epithelium. These changes are characteristic of pulmonary responses to chronic irritation of the lung.