RESUMO
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the cytotoxicity induced by chrysotile asbestos (CA), rock wool (RW) and wollastonite (WS).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>V79 cells were divided into 4 groups. i.e. CA group, WS group, RW group and control group (200 microl PBS). The exposure concentration of dusts was 100 mg/L, The cell viability was detected by MTT and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity assays. The technique of scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the change of V79 cells.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>SiO2 was main constituent for 3 kinds of dusts. In MTT assay, the cell viability of RW and WS groups was 64.8% and 65.7%, respectively, which were significantly higher than that (54.5%) of CA group (P < 0.01). In LDH assay, the LDH activity of RW and WS groups [(15.7 +/- 50.9), (12.3 +/- 3.7) U/L, respectively] was significantly lower than that [(20.2 +/- 0.9) U/L] of CA group (P < 0.05). In scanning electron microscopy examination, it was found that the two ends of V79 cells in CA group contained a great deal of fibers remaining bodies, but the V79 cell appearance in RW and WS groups was normal.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The cytotoxicity induced by RW and WS is significantly lower than that induced by CA for V79 cell.</p>