Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Epidemiology: Fear in the dust

Nature volume 468, pages 884–885 (2010)Cite this article

Subjects

Cancer epidemics in Turkey could hold the secret to staving off a public health disaster in North Dakota.

They became known as the cancer villages — tiny hamlets in Cappadocia, Turkey, that for generations have been haunted by an extremely rare lung condition. Mesothelioma, responsible for up to half of the deaths in these towns, is almost always associated with exposure to asbestos. But here, researchers found a different cause: a mineral called erionite, which is built into the very fabric of the villages. It is on the roads, in the fields and in the stone used to construct the houses.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Bariş, Y. İ. et al. Thorax 33, 181-192 (1978).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Sebastien, P., Gaudichet, A., Bignon, J. & Baris, Y. İ. Lab. Invest. 44, 420-425; (1981).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Radiographic Changes Associated with Exposure to Erionite in Road Gravel in North Dakota (US EPA, 2010); available at go.nature.com/pb5j7p.

Download references

Authors
  1. Brendan Maher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Related links

Related links

Related links in Nature Research

Perspective: an epidemic in Cappadocia

Related external links

Erionite information from the North Dakota Department of Health

North Dakota Geological Survey

Environmental Protection Agency

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Maher, B. Epidemiology: Fear in the dust. Nature 468, 884–885 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/468884a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/468884a

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Cancer

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Cancer newsletter — what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Cancer