The role of environmental and occupational exposures in Turkish immigrantswith fibre-related disease

Environmental exposure to tremolite and erionite causes endemic diseases of the lung and pleura in Turkey. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of these exposures and further occupational exposures on fibre-related disease s in Turkish immigrants living in Belgium. The study included 51 males and 17 females that emigrated < 1-38 yrs ago. M ost of them (n = 46) had nonmalignant pleural lesions, one had asbestosis a nd one had mesothelioma. Environmental asbestos exposure was likely for the majority of patients (60%), but there were also reports of possible occupa tional asbestos (n = 14) and erionite (n = 2) exposure. Tremolite was the main fibre type in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). E levated concentrations of amosite or crocidolite were detected in only two patients. The delay elapsed since the end of the environmental exposure had no influence on the asbestos body or the tremolite fibre concentrations in the BALF of Turkish immigrants. Most fibre-related diseases in Turkish immigrants are probably due to envir onmental rather than occupational exposure. Precise information about geogr aphical origin and occupation should be obtained when investigating these p atients. Mineralogical analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid gives valua ble information on the type and intensity of exposure, especially in patien ts with both environmental and occupational exposure.