This article is part of the supplement: Proceedings of the Joint Environment and Human Health Programme: Annual Science Day Conference and Workshop
Research
X-ray photoelectron and infrared spectroscopies of quartz samples of contrasting toxicity
-
* Corresponding author: Stephen M Francis smf6@st-andrews.ac.uk
1 School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, Purdie Building, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9ST, UK
2 School of Geography & Geosciences, University of St Andrews, Irvine Building, North Street, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9AL, UK
Environmental Health 2009, 8(Suppl 1):S4 doi:10.1186/1476-069X-8-S1-S4
Published: 21 December 2009Abstract
An exploratory XPS and FTIR investigation of the surfaces of bulk quartz powders widely used in toxicological studies (DQ12 and Min-U-Sil 5) was carried with the aim of correlating surface features with toxicity as reflected by indicators of biological response. Some patches of amorphous silica were identified as well as varying amounts of calcium but none of these features correlated with biological response. No evidence of widely-quoted surface silanol (SiOH) structures was found in this investigation and the possibility that FTIR artefacts have been previously misidentified as silanol structures is discussed.