Erionite
Exposure and Mesothelioma Cancer
Although less known than asbestos minerals, erionite is a natural carcinogen which, when exposed for long periods and repeatedly, can lead to mesothelioma, lung cancer and other deadly diseases. Erionite exposure is more important in the environment. A person affected by mesothelioma from erionite exposure usually lives near the mineral deposits in significant amounts.
Through laboratory tests in animals suggests that erionite exposure has been shown to have a higher risk of developing lung cancer such as mesothelioma than other minerals tested including asbestos. Mesothelioma due to mild erionite exposure develops faster than asbestos exposure.
Although less known than asbestos minerals, erionite is a natural carcinogen which, when exposed for long periods and repeatedly, can lead to mesothelioma, lung cancer and other deadly diseases. Erionite exposure is more important in the environment. A person affected by mesothelioma from erionite exposure usually lives near the mineral deposits in significant amounts.
Through laboratory tests in animals suggests that erionite exposure has been shown to have a higher risk of developing lung cancer such as mesothelioma than other minerals tested including asbestos. Mesothelioma due to mild erionite exposure develops faster than asbestos exposure.
Erionite Exposure
Erionite is an asbestiform, a high fibrous natural mineral from volcanic guning with similar properties of asbestos minerals. Erionite is a mineral zeolite such as asbestos serpentine or amphibole. Erionite is not licensed in the United States in extensive commercial use such as various other asbestos minerals.
Usually trace amounts of erionite have been found in other zeolite products such as water softener or water purification system. Nevertheless, more erionite exposure comes from other zeolite mining or through exposure to the environment naturally. Erionite traces in zeolite products can cause low levels of exposure, although it is not known whether these products can cause mesothelioma.
If in general asbestos exposure is related to where a person is involved in the manufacture, handling or installation of asbestos products. Then there is a repeated inhalation of asbestos particles that have the potential to develop mesothelioma cancer and other asbestos cancers. However, in exposure to erionite, the majority occur due to exposure to the associated environment in which a person lives near or around the erionite precipitate.
Around the world there are known erionite deposits in Germany, New Zealand, Russia, Japan, Kenya, Turkey and Italy. In the United States most of the erionite deposits are located in the West, mainly in Oregon, Arizona, Nevada, California, Wyoming, North Dakota and Utah.
High levels of mesothelioma
A small village in Turkey called Tuzkoy has a very high level of erionite exposure to the environment and can lead to the growth of malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer and other lung diseases. With the excessive concentration of erionite deposits in the area around Tuzkoy, the exposure comes from the inhalation of these fibrous minerals. Erionite particles occur naturally through the surrounding air dust.
A small percentage of the villagers have used boxes of erionite as a cooler for storing food. Exposure to erionite particles can be stored in the storage box. However, most cases of mesothelioma in Tuzkoy is more due to exposure to the surrounding environment than the food storage box.
This "Cancer City" has a fairly high mortality rate due to pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma that is almost seventy times the average annual mortality. Studies have shown that erionite deposits adjacent to the region are the cause.
Compared with asbestos is little known about erionite exposure. Many health organizations around the world are aggressively studying the health effects of these minerals
As a natural carcinogen, erionite affects people through asbestos-like processes. Through prolonged exposure and inhalation, the erionite particles settle specifically into the lungs or, in general, into the mesothelium, the lining of the internal organs. Finally, these embedded erionite particles trigger carcinogenesis or transformation of normal cells into cancer cells.
In addition, the erionite incubation period in the lungs and mesothelium is similar to asbestos that is from 10-20 years. The symptoms of mesothelioma caused by erionite are also similar to asbestos-like shortness of breath, pain in the chest wall and weight loss.
Studies have shown that low levels of low-level erionite exposure are more at risk of developing cancer than exposure to asbestos minerals. Basically it takes a much smaller amount of erionite particles to cause cancer than asbestos.
Whether it is caused by erionite or asbestos, the disease of mesothelioma is surely destructive. Since the discovery of the relationship between erionite exposure and high incidence of mesothelioma, many parties in the scientific and medical field began to conduct in-depth research. Asbestos minerals for commercial applications have indeed been used, but the impact of erionite exposure to the environment is more deadly than in employment. As in Tuzkoy, breathing air in the environment around erionite deposits can cause mesothelioma.