Department of Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand.
Department of Anatomical Pathology, Flinders University and SA Pathology Bedford Park 5042, Australia.
Chem Res Toxicol. 2021 Apr 19;34(4):936-951. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.0c00286. Epub 2021 Mar 22.
Asbestos and zeolites are silicate-based minerals, linked inextricably via paradoxical similarities and differences which have emanated from different geological epochs. Both have been employed in the service of humanity through millennia: asbestos, for its "inextinguishable" quality of being an insulator against heat and fire; zeolite, a "boiling stone" with its volcanic and marine sedimentary rock origins, for its propensity to adsorb water and remove metals and toxins. Serious adverse health effects observed in asbestos miners as long ago as the 1st Century AD did not halt the rising popularity of asbestos. As the miracle material of the 1900s, asbestos production and consumption exploded, culminating in its ubiquity in ships, vehicles, homes, commercial buildings, and over 3000 different industrial and household products. Through the 1940s and 1950s, epidemiological studies concluded that asbestos was a likely cause of asbestosis, lung cancer, and malignant mesothelioma, and it is now banned in many but far from all countries. The long latency between exposure to asbestos and the occurrence of cancer has obscured the deadly consequences of asbestos exposure for centuries. Even today, a considerable part of the world population is insufficiently aware of the dangers of asbestos, and millions of tons of this carcinogen continue to be mined and used worldwide. Zeolites, both natural and synthetic, are microporous aluminosilicate minerals commonly used in a myriad of processes, in the petrochemical industry, in domestic appliances and cleaning agents, as commercial adsorbents and exchangers for toxins and pollutants, and as catalysts. Zeolites are found in agriculture, veterinary science, and human health. More recently, new materials such as carbon nanotubes are being employed in materials requiring durability and thermal and electrical conductivity, yet nanotubes are now joining the ranks of more established particulates such as asbestos and silica, in causing human disease. In this review, we compare and contrast the similarities and differences of these two groups of silicate minerals and their waxing and waning use in the employ of humanity.
石棉和沸石都是硅酸盐矿物，通过源自不同地质时代的矛盾相似性和差异性紧密联系在一起。它们都在人类的历史长河中发挥了重要作用：石棉因其作为隔热和防火的“不可燃”特性而被使用；沸石，一种源于火山和海洋沉积物的“沸腾石”，因其具有吸附水并去除金属和毒素的特性而被使用。早在公元 1 世纪，石棉矿工就已经观察到了严重的健康影响，但这并没有阻止石棉的普及。作为 20 世纪的“神奇材料”，石棉的生产和消费呈爆炸式增长，最终在船舶、车辆、住宅、商业建筑以及 3000 多种不同的工业和家用产品中广泛应用。在 20 世纪 40 年代和 50 年代，流行病学研究得出结论，石棉可能是石棉沉着病、肺癌和恶性间皮瘤的原因，如今，许多国家已经禁止使用石棉，但远非所有国家都如此。从接触石棉到癌症发生的潜伏期很长，这使得石棉暴露的致命后果在几个世纪以来都被掩盖了。即使在今天，世界上相当一部分人口对石棉的危险认识不足，全球仍有数百万吨的这种致癌物质被开采和使用。天然沸石和合成沸石都是微孔硅酸铝矿物，通常用于无数的过程中，如石化工业、家用电器和清洁剂、商业吸附剂和用于毒素和污染物的交换剂以及催化剂。沸石还存在于农业、兽医科学和人类健康中。最近，像碳纳米管这样的新材料也被用于需要耐久性和热导性和电导率的材料中，但纳米管现在也像石棉和二氧化硅等更成熟的颗粒一样，导致人类患病。在这篇综述中，我们比较和对比了这两组硅酸盐矿物的相似性和差异性，以及它们在人类应用中的兴衰。
