However, in the pursuite of the responsible culprit they came across the monumental work of Izzetin Baris dealing with not-occupational ( domestic ) exposure of vast areas in Anatolya Turkey from erionite and tremolite,.
12.
Initially, this was attributed to erionite, a zeolite mineral with similar properties to asbestos, but detailed epidemiological investigation demonstrated that the substance causes the disease mostly in families with a genetic predisposition to mineral fiber carcinogenesis.
13.
Experts say there has been only a single " cancer cluster " traced to chronic exposure to environmental contaminants : a Turkish village where a respiratory cancer epidemic flared because of erionite, an asbestos-like mineral.
14.
Dr . Izzettin Baris of Hacettepe University in Ankara, who spent four years studying patients here and later published a study of the epidemic, said he believed the cause is erionite, an asbestos-like fibrous mineral in the powdery soil that villagers use for whitewash, insulation, plaster and as a substitute for baby powder.
