Asbestos Diseases
Simply put, asbestos can kill you. You must be careful when
you handle asbestos. When handling asbestos, it is useful to wet it, helping to
keep its fibers from entering the air. If you are in an area where asbestos is
present in the air, and you are not protected, then you are being exposed to
asbestos.
Asbestos
exposure causes:
Asbestosis:
"white lung" -- a scarring of the lung.
Mesothelioma: a cancer
of the lining of the chest and abdominal wall.
Lung cancer
Other diseases: cancers
of the digestive system, larynx, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, &
colon-rectum, as well as pleural plaque.
According to the EPA, there is no amount of asbestos that
has been proven to be safe. If you are unprotected and are exposed to asbestos,
then the asbestos will accumulate in your lungs. The more asbestos that you are
exposed to, then the probability you will get an asbestos-related disease
increases. However, mesothelioma is different. It has been proven that very
small amounts of asbestos can give a person mesothelioma.
Asbestos
can make a person sick from 10 to 40 years after inhalation. There is a latency
period between the time you inhale asbestos and become sick. This is one of the
reasons that a person cannot determine physically whether or not he/she has
inhaled asbestos. The physical effects of asbestos on the person can occur 10
to 40 years after exposure.
Not
everyone who is exposed to asbestos contracts an asbestos-related disease.
However, these people have a higher risk of getting one. All asbestos diseases
are difficult to treat and most are impossible to cure. The only cure for most
asbestos diseases is to prevent them. With safe work methods, and the proper
personal protection, then you can keep many of the dangerous asbestos fibers
from entering your lungs.
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