Pleural mesothelioma cases in Biancavilla are related to a new fluoro-edenite fibrous amphibole.
A cluster of deaths from pleural mesothelioma was previously reported for Biancavilla, Italy, a city in eastern Sicily. An environmental survey suggested that the stone quarries located southeast of the city might be a source of asbestos exposure. The materials extracted from the quarries, used widely in the local building industry, contain large quantities of a fibrous amphibole that was initially referred to as an anomalous intermediate phase of sodium- and fluorine-rich tremolite-actinolite. A subsequent crystal chemistry investigation identified the mineral as fluoro-edenite, a new end-member of the edenite --> fluoro-edenite series. The material is very similar in morphology and composition to the minerals of the tremolite-actinolite series. To the authors' knowledge, fluoro-edenite becomes the 3rd mineral fiber (along with erionite and winchite), not yet classified as asbestos, with a demonstrable mesotheliomatogenous action in humans.
Comba
Pietro
P
Higher Institute of Health, Rome, Italy.
Gianfagna
Antonio
A
Paoletti
Luigi
L
D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017636:Asbestos, Amphibole / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control; D019016:Mineral Fibers / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control
D000395:Air Pollutants, Occupational; D017636:Asbestos, Amphibole; D019016:Mineral Fibers