Asbestos and Turkish farmers

Main Category: Asbestos / Mesothelioma
Also Included In: Public Health;  Water - Air Quality / Agriculture
Article Date: 01 Nov 2005 - 0:00 PDT

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Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous mineral which has been extensively used in most Western countries mainly in building and construction.

It was later proven that it can cause different types of cancers and other diseases, the reason why its use is now banned in many countries.

It has been known for some decades that some Turkish villagers, who have never been occupationally exposed to asbestos, nevertheless suffer from asbestos-related diseases, such as mesothelioma and lung cancer.

Investigations have shown that local findings of the mineral have been used for white-washing houses and other purposes, and thus all living in such houses have had an environmental exposure to the substance. In fact, even small children living in such houses inhale asbestos fibres from their birth.

Muzaffer Metintas (Department of Chest Diseases, Osmangazi University Medical Faculty, Eskisehir, Turkey) and his Swedish and Turkish colleagues studied a number of such villages. Chest X-rays were taken of the inhabitants and mineral analyses of the soil were made.

The results show that there were at least three different types of asbestos involved, and also that the different types of fibres carried different risks for roentgenological changes.

The findings add to the knowledge of asbestos-related diseases, and especially on the effects of different types.

The ultimate goal is of course to eliminate the exposure in the villages.

Title of the original article:
Nonmalignant pleural lesions due to environmental exposure to asbestos: a field-based, cross-sectional study

The European Respiratory Journal is the peer-reviewed scientific publication of the European Respiratory Society (more than 7,500 specialists in lung diseases and respiratory medicine in Europe, the United States and Australia).

EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL (ERJ), Vol. 26, No 5
http://erj.ersjournals.com

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