131 A history of the Inhaled Particles symposia

Abstract The first Inhaled Particles Symposium was held in 1960 under the leadership of two aerosol scientists, Norman Davies and Henry Walton. This meeting set the tone for subsequent symposia with contributions from 250 scientists from 19 countries, dealing with the toxicology, epidemiology and physics of airborne particulate matter. In total there have been fourteen symposia, latterly held in conjunction with other major international toxicology conferences. In the early symposia there was considerable interest in the deposition and clearance of particles in the lung, both in humans and experimental animals. There was a focus on coal dust and pneumoconiosis, along with the impacts of asbestos and crystalline silica on the lung. In later symposia other dusts were discussed, including talc, radioactive particles, irritant aerosols such as enzymes and other organic dusts and latterly nanoparticles. The papers have mostly concerned occupational exposure, although some symposia included sessions on air pollution and cigarette smoke. Many important developments in the field were first presented at the symposia. The approach, particularly in the earlier meetings, was to promote discussion of the papers and important scientific issues relating to inhaled particles. Initially, the organisers attempted to publish all the papers and the associated discussion in the proceedings, but as time went on this became more difficult and recent symposia have not produced a definitive scientific record. This paper summarises the achievements of the Inhaled Particles symposia and tries to learn lessons from the past meetings that may help inform future debate.