History of asbestos discovery and use and asbestos-related disease in context with the occurrence of asbestos within ophiolite complexes

Abstract

Two ancient asbestos mines, one near Karystos, Greece, and the other southeast of Mount Troodos, Cyprus, were located in what we now know to be ophiolite terrane. Evidence suggests that asbestos was discovered and utilized in Cyprus, perhaps as long as 5,000 years ago, for manufacture of cremation cloths, lamp wicks, hats, and shoes. Some of the adverse health effects of asbestos became known only in the early twentieth century, but it was not until the 1960s that the asbestos-related diseases-asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma-were fully understood. Approximately 85% of the world's asbestos was produced from ophiolite complexes, most of which was the chrysotile variety; tremolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite asbestos accounting for only a few percent of the total. Asbestos minerals crystallize within tectonized ophiolites-along shear, fault, and dilation zones, and at contacts with intruded dikes and sills. Important chrysotile asbestos mines are found in the ophiolites of eastern Canada, the Russian Urals, California, northwest Italy, northern Greece, and Cyprus. A high incidence of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung lining, is reported among residents of villages located within or near ophiolite complexes in Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Corsica, and New Caledonia. These villagers were exposed to tremolite asbestos while processing stucco and whitewash for application to homes. Asbestos contamination in various geographic localities has generated concern about health risks and has prompted costly remedial actions, especially in the United Kingdom and the United States. A scientific basis for public policy is offered to address the utilization of asbestos-bearing rocks.