Inhalation of Zeolite (same as asbestos, please help)

FormerMember over 8 years ago

3 replies
13 subscribers
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Hi everyone!

One month ago I received a big bag (25kg) or zeolite (Clinoptilolite) that was sent for me to test, for agricultural purposes as I have a small organic garden that I run as a hobby and also to produce some vegetables and herbs for my own use. No need to say that I was totally unaware of the dangers of inhaling it and the claims of it being totally natural and totally organic, etc, led me to care less about possible dangers.

When I dropped the zeolite stones to fill a pot with them, a lot of white powder filled all the air (I was in a closed room, indoors) and I'm sure I inhaled some (if not a lot) of particles for maybe 2 minutes. Then I noticed that since there was so much powder in the air I should maybe protect myself for which I only covered my nose with the t-shirt I was using while handling the zeolite for another 15 or 20 minutes with the t-shirt covering my nose (I now think that particles can pass through the t-shirt cotton and eventually reach to the lungs anyway).

10 days later I started with strange feelings in my chest/lungs that were a bit painful. After 2 days of that, I had a spontaneous pneumothorax episode (left lung collapsed) that took me to the hospital where I spent 6 days with a tube (drainer) stuck on my chest. The hole closed at the 4th day and I'm at home now for 3 weeks since then.

Only 2 days ago I made a relationship between both things. I looked at the bag with zeolite that I have in the balcony and urged to search for the dangers of inhaling zeolite to find all that I already mentioned and that could represent a direct relation between the recent zeolite inhalation and my pneumothorax.

Now I only did that because I still feel pain in my lungs. The left lung (the one which collapsed provoking the pneumothorax) is not something that worries me because I had a tube there and I think I'm supposed to feel occasional pains because of that for maybe at least 1 or 2 months.

So, what worries me is the right lung, because the left and right pleuras are sepparated and I think there is no reason for my right lung to hurt now. So, maybe I'm being dumb, but I fear that all this (the pneumothorax and the pains I'm feeling) may be related with the zeolite inhalation.

What do you think?

Zeolite inhalation may result in mesothelioma but that's not what I'm worried about, because it was only 1 exposure and even if I was so unlucky to get mesothelioma for only 1 exposure it would only happen in decades from now. So, that's not a problem now that would worry me.

[B]But I read that besides mesothelioma, inhaling zeolite or asbestos also causes lung fibrosis and can cause pleural inflammation. Does these 2 illnesses also only occur after decades? Or do they occur days/weeks after the exposure/inhalation?[/B]

Some pneumothorax episodes are caused by lung fibrosis.

And Silicosis, a illness realted with inhalation of crystalline silica (found in both zeolite and asbestos) is strongly related to pneumothorax episodes.

I'm also going to receive very soon the results of a ct-scan I performed 1 week ago. If I have zeolite fibers in the lungs or pleura, would they be visible in the ct-scan? Or they would but only a few months/years after the inhalation?

I've been searching for hours and hours and I get all the info about asbestos and mesothelioma except for one: Is it possible to have symptoms of "contamination" only a few weeks after the inhalation/exposure?

Thanks in advance and sorry for the big post.

Kind regards,

Anthony

FormerMember over 8 years ago

Morning Anthony,

Thanks for raising awareness about this 'risky' sounding Zeolite product.

Was there no package information about avoiding breathing in the dust from this product from the maker / distributor ?

There is a lot of information regarding Zeolite at Sloan Kettering (link) you may find interesting, In case you didn't notice it while researching for more info.

As to whether the Zeolite dust / fibres ? would show up in the lungs using any particular types of scan I have no idea as Meso is a bit out of our area.

I'm hoping that unlike asbestos this inhaled zeolite would break down over time but as a mineral long term maybe it wouldn't :(

While browsing around I noticed a long term study was carried out within a village in Turkey where zeolite is found in the soil and against a control group Meso incidences were way over the average, so you would assume there has to be something in this ?

Thanks for the 'Heads up' on this - If it helps one person diagnosed with Meso who had inhalation contact with zeolite it could have answered some questions.

Take care, G n' J

FormerMember over 8 years ago in reply to FormerMember

Hi Dreamthief!

Thank you very much for your message and kind words.

I have a couple of further info I'd like to share, which in some way are good news for me.

First, I found out that there are 4 types of zeolite. The one I was exposed to - Clinoptilolite - seems to be less harmful. Seems to me (although I'm not totally sure) that the type that you mentioned from that study in the Turkish village - Erionite - might be the most harmfull form of zeolite.

Anyway there are recommendations to avoid Clinoptilolite inhalation in some cientific articles I found, stating that it's better to be safe and although the carcinogen dangers may not be relevant, it is still toxic when inhaled. So it's better to avoid inhalation. These are in a way just personal conclusions I made from what I searched.

The second good new is that today I went for an appointment with my pneumologist doctor. He saw my ct-scan and everything seems to be ok with my lungs and pleura. They are not perfect but they are very clean and there is no traces of illnesses, I have no blebs, no enphysemas, etc.

And he also said that even if I inhaled something as dangerous as asbestos, the chances of having problems after only 1 exposure are very reduced and that the problems would start to be noticed in 10, 20 or 30 years. He concluded that there is no relationship whatsoever with my pneumothorax and that inhalation episode.

I still have some pain in my chest (I assume it's in my lungs but I can't be sure), but now I'm much more calm and anxiety has almost totally gone away. I hace 30-50% chances of having a second pneumothorax (like everyone who has the 1st), but my main worry was about having an associated patology which I now know that I don't have.

I also found out today (from the respiratory tests) that I have asthma, but there is no relationship with it and the pneumothorax and I already had it for some time as in the past couple of years I passed 2 or 3 nights with respiratory difficulties. Nothing that I worry about, it's mild, and now I have a medical pump that I can use in emergencies to dilate the lungs and help me breath.

On a final note, I emailed the company that sells the zeolite (Clinoptilolite) asking them about dangers of inhalation and did not reply to me yet.

Thanks again. All the best and kind regards,

Anthony.

Carlitale over 2 years ago in reply to FormerMember

Hello Anthony, how are you doing ? Your last post was 6 years ago and I wonder how you are doing. I was looking up the effects of Zeolite clinoptilolite because I have the capsules at home and they say that this type pf Zeolite is very healthy...

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