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Zara has worked for 40 years at a garden center, where she often potted plants. In the early days, she frequently worked with vermiculite, an asbestos-like material. Which organelles are most likely to have destabilized membranes as a result of exposure to vermiculite?

A) nuclei
B) mitochondria
C) Golgi complexes
D) lysosomes

1 Answer

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Answer:

The organelles most likely to have destabilized membranes as a result of exposure to vermiculite are lysosomes (option D).

Step-by-step explanation:

The asbestos is composed of fibrous, microcrystalline, hydrated silicates in a chain that occurs naturally in the environment.

Asbestos´ fibers do not dissolve in water nor evaporate. This material has excellent isolating, mechanical and chemical properties, and is very resistant. Because of these properties, vermiculite contains asbestos in its composition.

Asbestos fibers might easily separate in smaller microscopic fibers. If these fibers keep together there is no danger for health. But it can be harmful if material breaks and fibers are released, as they might be inhaled.

The smallest asbestos fibers enter the organisms by inhaling, reaching the inferior aerial vias. The most affected cells are the macrophages, mesothelial cells, pneumocytes, and fibroblasts.

Asbestos fibers have two actions: increase the membrane permeability and affect the secondary lysosome´s membranes, especially macrophages, which produce the release of enzymes that might harm the pulmonary parenchyma.

There are different effects on health after exposure to asbestos, such as asbestosis, lung cancer, malign mesothelioma, or pleural plaques.

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