Environmental exposures

Incidence of mesothelioma had been found to be higher in populations living near naturally occurring asbestos. For example, in central Cappadocia, Turkey, an unprecedented mesothelioma epidemic caused 50% of all deaths in three small villages — Tuzköy, Karain and Sarıhıdır — found that mesothelioma was causing 50% of all deaths. Initially, this was attributed to erionite, a zeolite mineral with similar properties to asbestos, however, recently, detailed epidemiological investigation showed that erionite causes mesothelioma mostly in families with a genetic predisposition.^[13][14]