Fiber Numbers Per Unit Weight of JFM Standard Reference Samples Determined with a Scanning Electron Microscope.

A standard reference 10 sample-set of fibrous minerals were prepared by the Japan Fibrous Material Research Association (JFMRA) under the name of JMF standard reference samples. In this paper, the fiber number per unit weight of JFM standard reference samples was determined with a scanning electron microscope. Fiber numbers per unit weight (f/microgram) and standard deviations observed in this experiment were as follows: glass wool (GW1) 7.0 +/- 0.1 x 10(2), rock wool (RW1) 1.7 +/- 0.2 x 10(3), micro glass fiber (MG1) 6.5 +/- 0.4 x 10(4), refractory ceramic fibers; (RF1) 8.8 +/- 0.7 x 10(3), (RF2) 8.7 +/- 0.8 x 10(3), mullite fibers (RF3) 3.5 +/- 0.7 x 10(3), potassium titanate whisker (PT1) 5.9 +/- 0.3 x 10(5), silicon carbide whisker (SC1) 4.1 +/- 0.4 x 10(5), titanium oxide whisker (rutile) (TO1) 6.4 +/- 0.6 x 10(5), and wollastonite (WO1) 2.4 +/- 0.1 x 10(4). Fiber numbers per unit weight would change in proportion to the cube or cube root of the fiber size if the fibers have the same density and the same aspect ratio. JFM standard reference samples should be used taking into consideration the difference in fiber number per unit weight when users conduct in vitro and/or in vivo (injection) biological experiments using these samples.