Environmental pulmonary health problems related to mineral dusts: Examples from central Anatolia, Turkey

There are a number of benign disorders including pleural thickening (PT), calcified pleural plaques (CPP), and malignant diseases such as malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) in central Anatolia. Earlier studies suggested tremolite was the main cause, and there was no explanation why some of the population did not have malignant cases, and plaques were by far the most frequent manifestation of asbestos-induced injury. In this study, geological, mineralogical and environmental data were evaluated. While the prolonged continuous exposure to high or low doses of long (8-30 µm) and thin (less than 0.25 µm) mixed fibers such as chrysolite, and/or anthophyllite or tremolite, and also silica particles may be the cause of MPM in central Anatolia, two different reasons for the CPP and PT are suggested. The first one is short (less than 8 µm) and thin mixed-type mineral fibers. The second reason is low doses of long, but thick, splintery tremolite fibers.