Silica and silicosis mechanism. The role of surface properties of particles and of the silica-supported iron

Abstract : In silicosis, like in coal-worker pneumoconiosis, it appears that inhalation of dusts induces a recruitment of phagocytic cells, particulariy of macrophages and an activation of these cells with correlatively oxidative burst and release of a battery of immune, proinflammatory and profibrotic mediatons in alveolar structure.