The aim of the study was to determine the pulmonary concentrations of mineral fibers in the Finnish male urban population and to evaluate the analysis of pulmonary fiber burden by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) as an indicator of past fiber exposure.
The pulmonary concentration of mineral fibers was determined by SEM and compared with occupational history for a series of 300 autopsies of urban men aged 33 to 69 years.
The concentration of fibers (f) longer than 1 micron ranged from