Asbestos

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that has been used all over the world in a huge range of applications since its first discovery. Its chief physical properties are its durability and resistance to heat and combustion. It is an extremely fibrous mineral and mining, milling, processing and use of asbestos and its products create many small fibers. These fibers, which can be either inhaled or ingested can cause very serious health problems. In many countries asbestos is still mined, processed and used. In a growing number of others, it is either banned, or its use is severely restricted. Asbestos is not banned in the US.

Asbestos has been used in industry since about the 1880's. As early as 1918, American and Canadian insurance companies were no longer insuring asbestos workers because of the assumed health hazards of the asbestos industry. In 1935, researchers in both the United States and England reported a suspected association between asbestos exposure and lung cancer. By 1955 this association had been confirmed, and the link to several other types of cancer had been made as well.

However, the asbestos industry spent - and continues to spend - large sums of money trying to play down the hazards of exposure to asbestos fibers and to fight off stricter legislation.

Asbestos Exposure

Asbestos is an extremely fibrous mineral. Mining, milling, processing and using asbestos and products made with asbestos can generate many small fibers. When these fibers are inhaled or ingested, serious health problems can result. Prolongued, intense exposure to airborne asbestos almost assuredly results in asbestosis, a chronic and debilitating condition resulting from scarring of the soft tissues of the lung.

While prolonged asbestos exposure nearly guarantees an averse result, even brief exposure can lead to asbestos-related diseases. The deadly cancer mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs or abdomen, is all too often diagnosed in the family members of workers who washed clothes dusty with asbestos, or simply hugged dad when he came in the door, dirty from a long day of work.

Asbestos in many forms is present in a variety of places, and in some cases it is best left where it is. This is because asbestos in some forms in non-friable, meaning it is encased or in some way prevented from becoming airborne. It is when asbestos is friable that the risk of asbestos exposure is created.

Exposure to asbestos is a serious matter for you and your family. If you believe that you may have been exposed to asbestos, click here.