Summary.-The geographical distribution of mortality from mesothelioma of the pleura during the years 1968-78 in England and Wales has been studied using extracts from the death records held by the Office of Population Censuses THE ASSOCIATION between mesothelioma of the pleura and exposure to asbestos was first described by Wagner and his colleagues in 1960, based principally on their observations of the experience of, crocidolite miners in Cape Province, South Africa (Wagner et al., 1960). Since then, because of the widespread use of asbestos, there has been considerable interest in the study of exposed groups. Also, because it seems clear that all cases of mesothelioma are not attributable to occupational exposure to asbestos (MacDonald A. D. (1980) found that 40 % of male cases were attributable) the search for possible other causes has become important. Laboratory studies have shown that a wide range of substances (including fibres made of aluminium silicate and glass) can produce mesotheliomas in animals after intrapleural inoculation, if the shape of the fibres falls within a certain range (Wagner et al., 1973(Wagner et al., , 1974. Evidence has been published from two villages in Turkey showing that pleural mesotheliomas in man may be related to zeolites (another fibrous mineral) in the soil (Baris et al., 1981). Recently, however, asbestos minerals have been found to be present in the areas also, both in environmental samples and in lung tissues (Rohl et al., 1982).As part of an analysis of mortality by area in England and Wales over an extended period of time, it has been possible to look at deaths from mesothelioma of the pleura in individual Local Authority areas. This paper presents results of this investigation, and relates pleural-mesothelioma death rates to areas of known high asbestos exposure to men and women in the relevant past.