The excess incidence of lung cancers observed in many metal mines probably is not only correlated with radioactivity but also with the inhaled dusts. In an attempt to determine a possible mechanism of carcinogenicity related to the surface activity of dusts, using the spin-trapping agent and ESR spectroscopy, one can demonstrate that some mineral dusts from iron ore mines are very active in an oxidative process in aqueous medium, implying the formation of radical oxygen species on reducing surface sites of the solid. This reducing surface activity of the dusts depends on the presence of Fe2+ ion in the lattice and on the process of activation and passivation of the surface sites. The more simple process of activation is the dissolution of the oxidized coating on the particle surface. Among the oxides, oxyhydroxides, carbonates, and silicates, the magnesium-iron phyllosilicates (chlorite, biotite, berthierine) appear the most active. The siderite FeCO3 is also active, but the iron oxides and oxyhydroxides are generally nonactive.
