Erionite asbestiform fibres and health risk in Aotearoa/New Zealand: A research note

Abstract

Erionite is a naturally‐occurring fibrous zeolite mineral present in some rocks and soils. It is usually found in volcanic ash altered by weathering and groundwater, and recrystallised as zeolite. It is an “asbestiform” because it forms mineral fibres, and like asbestos, if inhaled, can lead to diseases like malignant mesothelioma (MM). Nevertheless, erionite is generally acknowledged as being more carcinogenic than asbestos minerals. Aotearoa/New Zealand has one of the highest MM rates in the western world. We describe preliminary results from erionite in Auckland, provide observations about asbestiform fibres and disease in the Aotearoa‐Pacific Island region, and briefly outline avenues for research.

Global geological occurrence and character of the carcinogenic zeolite mineral, erionite: A review

“…Subsequently, a more detailed USAfocused geological review of erionite was published by Van Gosen et al (2013) from the standpoint of an emerging national public health concern for respiratory disease. Elsewhere, global data on erionite is less abundant, but locations, where erionite has been reported include Antarctica (Vezzalini et al, 1994), Australia (England and Ostwald, 1979;Birch, 1987), Fiji (Ram et al, 2019), Finland (Lehtinen, 1976), Georgia (Batiashvili and Gvakharia, 1968), Crimea (Suprychev and Prokhorov, 1986), Scotland (Macpherson and Livingstone, 1982), Northern Ireland (Passaglia et al, 1998), Japan (Harada et al, 1967;Kawahara, 1967;Shimazu and Kawakami, 1967), Kenya (Surdam and Eugster, 1976;Bernhart Owen et al, 2019), Austria (Zirkl et al, 1962;Waltinger and Zirkl, 1974), and New Zealand (Sameshima, 1978;Irwin, 2016;Patel and Brook, 2021). Erionite has been found within rocks used for road aggregates in the United States (Van Gosen et al, 2013), and in the rock used to construct houses in Turkey (Carbone et al, 2007).…”

“…Presently, cases of MM related to erionite exposure are restricted to Turkey (Bariş et al, 1979(Bariş et al, , 1978 and Mexico (Ortega-Guerrero et al, 2015), but due to its carcinogenic potential, there are concerns regarding the occupational and environmental exposure to erionite in other countries such as New Zealand (Patel and Brook, 2021), United States (Carbone et al, 2011;Beaucham et al, 2018), Iran (Ilgren et al, 2015) and Italy (Giordani et al, 2016). Indeed, erionite has been identified in various geological formations globally (Figure 1), and due to health concerns, significant research has been undertaken in the United States to identify the geological occurrences of erionite (e.g., Sheppard, 1996;Van Gosen et al, 2013) and in Italy (e.g., Giordani et al, 2017Giordani et al, , 2016, although the latter study only focused on one region of Italy (the Lessini Mountains).…”

Reanalysis of historic elemental speciation filters to investigate the presence of fibrous mineral particles using microscopy techniques

“…Zeolites, including fibrous erionite, have been identified in several locations in the Miocene Waitemata Group sediments ( Sameshima 1978 ), exposed across much of the Auckland urban and suburban regions. For example, in the upper Waitemata Harbour at Riverhead ( Davidson and Black, 1994 ; Patel and Brook, 2021 ), fibrous erionite has been identified in riverbank exposures underneath a thin veneer of Quaternary sediments, as well as in rock outcrops in shore platforms in the intertidal zone. Erionite has also been identified in the Miocene Waitakere Group volcanics at Te Henga Quarry −9 km to the west of Henderson, in the west of Auckland ( Brook et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Their importance in this specific context is especially relevant given that the risk of their disturbance has increased in recent years with Auckland’s rapid urban expansion across previous greenfield sites ( Stats NZ, 2021 ). Moreover, there has been increased awareness recently about the risk posed by fibrous mineral forms including silicas ( Otsuki et al, 2016 ; Sanchez et al, 2009 ) and zeolite minerals such as erionite ( Brook et al, 2020 ; Patel and Brook, 2021 ). In this study, the GNS filter archive is used to investigate its potential to reconstruct the historical evolution of fibrous silicas and zeolites in the air across Auckland.…”