The role of mechanochemistry in the pulmonary toxicity caused by particulate minerals

The release of free radicals from mechanically ground mineral dusts in aqueous suspensions has been employed to predict the possible pathogenic potential of the dusts when inhaled. Two separate free radical-generating reactions have been considered: formation of the (OH)-O-. radical from hydrogen peroxide via a "Fentonlike" reaction and of a carbon centered radical, following cleavage of a carbon-hydrogen bond. The particulate examined were: variously contaminated quartz dusts, whose well-documented pathogenicity varies from one to the other source; iron- and titanium-doped alumina pigments, prepared via a mechanochemical reaction, whose pathogenic potential is unknown, and hard metal mixtures, obtained from tungsten carbide (WC) and one metal dust, namely Fe, Co, or Ni, the cobalt mixture only being a renown hazardous material. Quartz obtained by grinding coarse particles in grinding chambers composed of steel, widia, corundum, and agate, retain some characteristics of the wall chamber-material, which deeply affects its capability to generate radicals and may explain the variability of quartz hazard. Insertion of ions in the mechanochemically prepared pigments imparts to the particle suspected free radical-generating properties. Among the hard metal mixtures examined, the most active is the cobalt one.