Microscopical Analyses of Asbestos-Containing Dental Tape
THE MICROSCOPE
2019, Volume 67:3, pp. 99–109
DOI
https://doi.org/10.59082/YLJQ6709
AUTHOR
James R. Millette,
Steven Compton, and Christopher DePasquale
ABSTRACT
Since the 1930s, asbestos-containing dental ring liner tape has been used in making crowns, bridges,and other metal prostheses. Analyses of 10 samples of the tape in this study show a range of 40% to 95% chrysotile together with small amounts of amphibole asbestos. Fibers are released onto a person handling the tape. Several tests performed in both a glove box and in a room-sized chamber showed similar airborne levels of asbestos ranging from 0.5 to 4 fibers percubic centimeter (F/cc) during handling and tearing ofthe tape. Two glove box tests suggest that more than 100,000 asbestos fibers greater than 5 μm in length are released during two tears of the dental tape and over two million asbestos fibers greater than 0.5 μm in length are released during two tears.