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Safety

Asbestos – General Information

Information supplied by:
The Asbestos & Mesothelioma Center
Committed to providing the latest, up-to-date information
to our visitors in hopes of creating
awareness about the dangers of asbestos.

Asbestos has been called the world’s worst understated industrial disaster. For nearly 100 years, industries throughout the world embraced asbestos as a miracle fiber. Its remarkable properties of insulation and heat resistance made it the ideal fireproofing materials. Products that contained asbestos were advertised as the ultimate in safety technology – fire resistant, rot resistant, mold resistant and more. After World War II, asbestos was frequently used in public and school buildings because of its remarkable properties.

The EPA estimates that most of the nations 107,000 schools and nearly 750,000 public and commercial buildings contain some asbestos. While asbestos is still used in many construction materials, the larger concern with asbestos lies in the aging schools and public buildings and in older homes – those that were built before 1970.

Dangers of Asbestos Exposure

Asbestos, when it is undisturbed, is not a danger. When the materials that contain asbestos become dilapidated and damaged, however, the asbestos becomes “friable” – able to shed fibers that become airborne. It is those airborne fibers that are a serious health hazard. Exposure to even small amounts of asbestos fibers in the air can result in illnesses that include asbestosis, lung cancer, mesothelioma and other cancers.

Not all of those exposed to asbestos experience serious health problems, but many do. There may be a correlation to the length and severity of exposure and eventual health problems, but there have been cases of mesothelioma and other illnesses resulting from even brief, single exposures to asbestos.

Asbestos fibers easily penetrate body tissues, especially after they are inhaled or swallowed. Those fibers are retained by the body, and may work their way through lung tissue into the pleural mesothelium, a single cell lining between the lungs and the chest wall. Swallowed, they may lodge in the stomach and the lining of the abdomen. Skin contact may result in rashes similar to those caused by fiberglass.

The real dangers of asbestos exposure aren’t usually apparent for decades. Most asbestos related diseases don’t start showing symptoms until twenty years or more after the first exposure. We are currently seeing the results of exposures that happened as early as World War II. The most common illnesses associated with asbestos exposure are:

Asbestosis
Asbestosis is a non-cancerous respiratory disease. It is caused when asbestos fibers irritate the lung tissues and cause scarring. It is chronic and progressive, and is nearly always disabling and can even be fatal.

Lung Cancer
The disease that causes the largest number of asbestos-related deaths is lung cancer. Lung cancer incidence is considerably higher in those people who are directly involved in the use of asbestos and its products than it is in the general population. People who are both exposed to asbestos and to other carcinogens, specifically cigarette smoke – may be as much as 90 times more likely to develop lung cancer than people who have neither risk factor.

Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is a rare cancer that is almost invariably linked to asbestos exposure. According to the EPA, approximately two percent of miners who work with asbestos and ten percent of workers who make asbestos containing gas masks contract mesothelioma. The risk of mesothelioma is also higher for those who live with people who work with asbestos, who live near asbestos mining areas, or how live near shipyards or factories where there is a high concentration of asbestos fibers in the air. In addition, the younger people are when they are exposed to asbestos, the more likely they are to develop mesothelioma. Please see the pages at asbestos.com detailing mesothelioma for more information.

Other Cancers
Asbestos exposure may also cause cancer of the larynx, oral cavity, stomach, colon, esophagus and kidney. For further information, please see other related asbestos cancers.

Exposure Risks

The most significant risk of exposure to asbestos is on the job. There are particular occupations that carry a high risk of exposure to asbestos. Traditionally, those occupations have included construction workers, shipyard workers, pipe fitters and steamfitters, custodial workers and maintenance workers, industrial workers who are involved in the manufacture of asbestos containing products, workers who wear protective equipment containing asbestos and insulators.

As older buildings deteriorate and are renovated and demolished, there are a number of occupations that now face a significant risk of exposure to asbestos fibers in the air. Those occupations include those who work in renovation and demolition, general contractors, schoolteachers, industrial workers, firefighters, plumbers, electricians, custodial and maintenance.

In addition to occupational risks, there is a risk of secondary asbestos exposure and of environmental asbestos exposure. The former is most common in the families and households of those who work in contact with asbestos, especially if proper precautions are not taken to prevent the transfer of asbestos on their clothing and persons.

You may also be exposed to asbestos in the air if you live around a factory, shipyard or other plant where asbestos is used and the dust is allowed to escape into the air. One of the most notorious sites of environmental exposure is Libby, Montana, where the W. R. Grace Co. operated a vermiculite mine that was contaminated with asbestos. The EPA and the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Reporting maintain lists of Superfund cleanup sites and other toxic dump sites where the risk of exposure to asbestos may be higher.

There is a small risk of exposure to asbestos in public and commercial buildings, particularly in schools. As the buildings that were erected prior to 1980 age and deteriorate, many of the asbestos containing materials with which they were made become worn. Renovations, repairs and accidents may disturb encapsulated or otherwise contained asbestos and release airborne fibers.

Many private homes were also made with asbestos containing materials. The most common ACMs used in private homes were insulation, popcorn acoustical ceiling tiles and paint, pipe insulation, electrical insulation, textured paint, wallboard, floor tiles and glues or mastic. In general, there is no danger of exposure to asbestos unless the asbestos containing material becomes damaged. If you are renovating or repairing in an older home, it is important that you know which materials might contain asbestos. Generally speaking, for safety’s sake, it is always best to hire a licensed professional who knows how to work safely with asbestos.

I.C.E. Numbers

If you have a cell phone, chances are it’s filled with numbers of people who could be contacted if you were involved in an accident or ended up unconscious in a hospital. But, it may be difficult for police or the fire department to know who to call, unless you have a cell phone programmed with an “ICE” number. (In Case of Emergency). Creating an ICE number in your phone couldn’t be any easier. Simply enter the number of your emergency contact into your cell phone’s address book. Label it as ICE and store it. Fire Departments, Police and Physicians an then access that number if you are in an accident.

Fire Safety starts with Fire Prevention