The Harmful Consequences Of Exposure to Asbestos

The Harmful Consequences Of Exposure to Asbestos
It has been said that all levels of asbestos exposure are harmful to the body. This is due to the fact that just one fiber can bring severe harm. Workers are most at risk of contracting asbesto related diseases due to poorly controlled, and often unrecognized, exposure to harmful materials in their daily labors.

Asbestos related diseases are responsible for 30 deaths per day, or 10,000 deaths per year. These diseases kill thousands more people than other types of cancers that get much more attention from the government and pharmaceutical companies. The combination of asbestos exposure and cigarette smoking is especially deadly. The Surgeon General indicates that people who smoke and were exposed to asbestos on the job are 90 times as likely to develop lung cancer as people who smoke but were never exposed to asbestos. Lung cancer, attributable to cigarette smoking (which has a similar latency period) has been well-documented, less attention has been focused on asbestos-related lung cancers.

As with the development of mesothelioma after exposure to asbestos, lung cancer symptoms appear many years after initial exposure to the hazardous mineral. Anyone who suspects they may have been exposed to asbestos and are experiencing any symptoms of lung cancer should seek the advice of a medical physician. Continued exposure can increase the amount of fibers that remain in the lung and the body may not be able to naturally expel them.The time from exposure to the onset of asbestos related diseases is quite long. It may take 25 to 40 years for a disease to be detected. The severity of the disease depends upon the duration of exposure to asbestos and the amount inhaled.

Asbestos-related diseases commonly affect people who worked for long periods of time in professions where asbestos was used, as well as their families due to secondary asbestos exposure. The proclamation urged public awareness about the prevalence of asbestos-related diseases and the dangers of asbestos exposure.

Cases of mesothelioma have occurred in spouses and children of asbestos workers whose only exposures were from the dust brought home on the clothing of family members who worked with asbestos. Approximately 1,500 cases of malignant mesothelioma are reported annually, and 80 percent of these cases are caused by asbestos exposure. The average latency and the diagnosis of malignant asbestos and the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma is 35 to 40 years, with most deaths occurring in persons over 60 years of age.