Mouse pulmonary response following solid surface composite dust inhalation.

Abstract<bold>Purpose</bold>: Pulmonary exposure to emissions from manipulating solid surface composite (SSC) materials has been associated with adverse health effects in humans and laboratory animals. Previous <italic>in vitro</italic> and <italic>in vivo</italic> investigations of SSC toxicity have been limited by particle delivery methods that do not fully recapitulate the workplace environment. This study sought to determine the acute SSC-induced pulmonary responses <italic>via</italic> whole-body inhalation exposure. <bold>Materials and Methods</bold>: A chamber for dust particle generation and an exposure system for characterization and animal exposures was constructed. The system successfully generated SSC at a concentration of 19.9 ± 1.5 mg/m3. The aerosol count median aerodynamic diameter was 820 nm. First, C57BL/6 mice were exposed to SSC particles for 4 h (<italic>n</italic> = 6) or filtered air control followed by euthanasia either immediately or 24 h post-exposure. Lungs were analyzed for aluminum (Al) content using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) which measured a lung deposition of 19.13 ± 5.03 µg/g elemental Al, or approximately 64 µg/g SSC dust. Second, a group of mice (<italic>n</italic> = 9) was exposed to SSC particles at 20 mg/m3 for 4 days, 4 h/day to assess the acute and sub-chronic pulmonary effects of SSC inhalation. Animals were euthanized at 1- and 56-days post-exposure. <bold>Results</bold>: Total estimated pulmonary deposition for these animals was 49.2 µg SSC dust/animal. No histopathologic changes were observed at any post-exposure time point; however, BALF total protein was increased at 1-day post-exposure. <bold>Conclusions</bold>: We conclude that exposure to dust from cutting SSC at this dose and post-exposure durations induces mild, transient inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]