Is Sweet PDZ like asbestos?

[mun5]

I've been thinking of trying PDZ to reduce the smell of my coup and run, but then I've found numerous research papers warning against the use of zeolites, which is the major ingredient of Sweet PDZ.

According to https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/zeolite

*Erionite, a type of natural fibrous zeolite, can cause cancer when inhaled. There is no evidence that other forms of zeolite cause cancer.

*Vulkansandkuren, a zeolite product marketed in Europe, was found to contain high levels of heavy metals including arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, nickel, copper, and chromium.

The first makes zeolites sound like asbestos. Fibrous minerals is hardly ever a good thing because they stay in the lungs until we die. Will we come to regret for the use of PDZ years down the road like we are asbestos? And we don't know the extent of damage to poultry when they ingest zeolites.

 

[SueT]

I have believed that sweet PDZ is non-toxic. But I do wear a mask when cleaning the coop.

A Full-circle Green-Earth Mineral​

Sweet PDZ is an earth mineral — it is non-toxic, organic, recyclable and compostable. We like to say Sweet PDZ is a full-circle green-earth mineral. We borrow it from the earth to capture noxious, ozone-burning odors, and you can return it to the earth as a beneficial soil conditioner in your compost and gardens.


https://sweetpdz.com/benefits-uses/

 

[DobieLover]

Will we come to regret for the use of PDZ years down the road like we are asbestos?

No. The key word in the first warning you linked is "fibrous". Even asbestos isn't dangerous unless it's friable.
The zeolite that is sold for farm use is not fibrous in nature. It is crystalline:

A zeolite mineral is a crystalline substance with a structure characterized by a framework of linked tetrahedra, each consisting of four O atoms surrounding a cation. This framework contains open cavities in the form of channels and cages. These are usually occupied by H2O molecules and extra-framework cations that are commonly exchangeable. The channels are large enough to allow the passage of guest species. In the hydrated phases, dehydration occurs at temperatures mostly below about 400 °C and is largely reversible. The framework may be interrupted by (OH, F) groups; these occupy a tetrahedron apex that is not shared with adjacent tetrahedra.

This being stated, I do not use nor recommend the powdered form of Sweet PDZ as it is obviously more easily turned airborne. I do not wear a mask when sifting, although I probably should.

 

[mun5]

No. The key word in the first warning you linked is "fibrous". Even asbestos isn't dangerous unless it's friable.

But when you buy zeolite in granular form it's friable, isn't it?

 

[DobieLover]

But when you buy zeolite in granular form it's friable, isn't it?

Yes, but that does not matter unless it's releasing tiny fibers. Dried up clumps of soil are friable. Breathing in dust is never good but it's not going to cause the damage to lung tissue that friable asbestos does.

 

[MadamContrary]

It depends on where the zeolite is sourced. Any mineral can transport heavy minerals along with it. It is not like asbestos in physical form, but like anything in powder form you do not want to inhale it. High levels of silica can be an issue for people because it settles at the bottom of lung tissue and stays put.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

"Fear Sells".

"The Dangers of DiHydrogen Monoxide" (others) is an important life lesson in rhetoric, risk balancing, and the use of bad science to manipulate the ignorant.

"Zohnerisms"

Ignorance, of course, is nothing to be proud of. Neither is it reason for shame. Its simply the identification of an opportunity in which to expand one's knowledge.

 

[mun5]

"Fear Sells".

Environmental fibrous zeolite (erionite) exposure and malignant tumors other than mesothelioma​

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9216804/

"Little is known about current exposures experienced by workers in the United States. However, erionite is found in some other commercial zeolite products. Therefore, the use of other zeolites may result in exposure to erionite among workers and members of the general population who use the zeolites in various processes and products. The commercial uses of other natural zeolites include pet litter, soil conditioners, animal feed, wastewater treatment, and gas absorbents."

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/erionite

"The Dangers of DiHydrogen Monoxide"

Not sure how the hypothesis should be deemed parallel to a parody and should be dismissed even when the NIH outlines the cancer risks extensively:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK304368/

 

[SueT]

It sounds like you’ve talked yourself out of using it!
As for me, I’m going to continue to use it on the poop boards. At least for now.
Thanks for bringing up possible issues, though!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Environmental fibrous zeolite (erionite) exposure and malignant tumors other than mesothelioma​

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9216804/



https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/erionite



Not sure how the hypothesis should be deemed parallel to a parody and should be dismissed even when the NIH outlines the cancer risks extensively:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK304368/

"Mineralogic analyses of the tissues should be performed to demonstrate this relationship." Proves nothing. Indicates only that they have a theory to test - nor is that material solely (or even primarily) zeolite.

The follow up study of a pair of remote Turkish villages in the shadow of a volcano, living in its exhaust over near a quarter century showed higher incidence of mesotheliona, yes - but doesnt identify zeolite as the cause, or offer any dosage comparison by which one could compare more than two decades of constant environmental exposure to occasionally throwing some sweet PDZ at a coop.

The other?
Long on "may", short on details with which to balance risk. how 'bout we look at the blog that helped trigger those cautions?

https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2011/11/22/erionite/

One case in '81 for a guy who lived and worked in it. A Turkish village that builds homes of it. A Mexican village living in it, and two mild cases in the US, afain, living near a high concentration and, in one case, mining it.

Salt is more dangerous. Water is more dangerous. The dust of dried chicken droppings is more dangerous. The air of many metropolitan cities is more dangerous.

Thank you for your demonstration.