title: Pulmonary fibre burden in sheep living in the Biancavilla area (Sicily): preliminary results.
abstract: In a national survey on mortality from malignant pleural neoplasms in Italy, aimed at detecting geographic clusters of cases of the disease, the town of Biancavilla, located in a volcanic area of Eastern Sicily, showed high risk of pleural mesothelioma in the absence of occupational asbestos exposure. An environmental survey suggested the stone quarries located in 'Monte Calvario', south-east of the town of Biancavilla, as a possible source of asbestiform fibre exposure. A subsequent crystal-chemistry investigation of the 'Monte Calvario' amphiboles identified the mineral asbestiform fibres as 'fluoro-edenite', a new end-member of the edenite ==> fluoro-edenite series. A collaborative epidemiological and environmental study was initiated to investigate the characteristics of the outbreak of malignant mesothelioma and test the hypothesis of a causal association with exposure to naturally occurring fibres. To investigate if a sheep population could be used to monitor the environmental diffusion of the fibres, we examined lung specimens from 27 culled sheep, at least 3 years old and living near Monte Calvario to check for the presence of fluoro-edenite fibres, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis and X-ray microanalysis. Fourteen mineral species have been isolated in the mineral particulate matter taken from pulmonary parenchyma, and fluoro-edenite was detected in eight sheep. These preliminary data suggest a possible bio-indicative role of sheep as sentinel animals in the evaluation of environmental fibre diffusion, which merits further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena no. 299, 00161 Rome, Italy. paola.denardo@iss.it
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: DeNardo
authors.forename: Biagio
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bruni
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Paoletti
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pasetto
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sirianni
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001194:Asbestos / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D003625:Data Collection; D004058:Diffusion; D004577:Electron Probe Microanalysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D019016:Mineral Fibers / Q000032:analysis*; D011634:Public Health; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012756:Sheep; D012802:Sicily; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D019016:Mineral Fibers; D001194:Asbestos