Fig. 4

a. Percentage of cells with associated birefringent particles in macrophages from the talc-exposed or granite-exposed groups. The percentages were calculated by dividing the number of macrophages with particles by the total number of macrophages counted. Day 1 shows a low number of macrophages with particles for the granite group, but a higher level for the talc group. By day 4, both groups have increased with similar amounts approximate to 45%. Day 7 shows a large decrease in the number of macrophages in the talc group, but a slight increase in the number of macrophages in the granite group. By day 14, both have similar percentages at approximately 30%. The star indicates the p-value of the difference was less than 0.05 between the granite and talc groups. All data are shown as Mean ± SE. b. Percentage of cells with associated birefringent particles in the neutrophils of both the granite-exposed and talc-exposed groups. The percentages were calculated by dividing the number of neutrophils with birefringent particles by the total number of neutrophils counted. The granite group significantly increased from day 1 to day 4 and then proceeded to decrease. The talc group began high and then decreased over day 7 and day 14. The talc group had the highest average on day 1 at approximately 29%. The granite group had the highest average on day 4 with approximately 19%. Both groups had their lowest averages by day 14 with the talc group at approximately 3% and the granite group at approximately 7%. The star indicates the p-value of the difference between the granite and talc groups was less than 0.05. All data are shown as Mean ± SE. c. Percentage of giant cells in both the control group as well as the granite- and talc-exposed groups. The percentage was calculated by dividing the number of giant cells by the total number of cells counted. The talc–exposed group had a higher number of giant cells compared to the other two. The treated granite group had a minimal number of giant cells. The control group had 0% of giant cells. The p-value of the difference for talc-exposure versus each other group across each day was all less than 0.05. All data are shown as Mean ± SE