Sulfur dioxide (SO2) and Asbest are frequently found at workplaces. They can induce airway and lung parenchymal injury. Alveolar macrophages (AM) play an important and decisive role in the damage of respiratory tissue. We evaluated the reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) production of AM and peripheral blood mononuclear cells after exposure with SO2 and Chrysotile B. The cells were exposed in a special gas exposure chamber at 37 degrees C and 100% air humidity for 30 minutes to 1.5 or 2.5 ppm SO2. Afterwards they were incubated for one hour with 100 micrograms or 200 micrograms Chrysotile B. Control experiments were performed with cell exposure to synthetic air without SO2 and Chrysotile B. Spontaneous and phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) stimulated ROI-release were measured by chemiluminescence and the cell toxicity was evaluated with the trypan blue exclusion test. Our results show a dose-dependent increase of the spontaneous ROI-production of AM after SO2 and Chrysotile B exposure. Exposure to 100 micrograms Chrysotile B caused an 1.5 fold, exposure to 1.5 or 2.5 ppm SO2 plus 100 micrograms Chrysotile B resulted in an 2.4 respectively 3.3 fold increase in ROI-release compared to control experiments. Exposure of AM to 200 micrograms Chrysotile B yielded an 1.9 fold, exposure to 2.5 ppm SO2 plus 200 micrograms Chrysotile B a 3.9 fold elevation in the spontaneous ROI-production compared to control experiment with standard air. A similar reaction pattern was observed in PMA-stimulated AM and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)