What is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral ore. Due to its inherent physical properties (it is fire resistant, it is a good insulator and has high tensile strength) it was used to manufacture a variety of building materials. It was also used to produce a number of everyday products ranging from floor tiles to paper and fire blankets.
There were three types of Asbestos that was commonly used in the manufacturing industry these are; blue (crocidlite), brown (amosite) and white (chrysolite).

 

What Countries still use Asbestos?

Asbestos was, for a long time a very popular building material. It was used regularly throughout most of the twentieth century especially during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. It wasn’t until the middle of the 1980s that asbestos use was restricted in many countries. Japan, Australia and the European Union have banned the use of asbestos in new construction projects.

However, asbestos is still used in the United States where it is still used in certain sections of the construction industry.
Asbestos is also used in variety of developing countries, primarily China and India where it is often used to create corrugated asbestos-cement sheets for roofing and walls.

 

Potential dangers of Asbestos

Left alone and undisturbed asbestos is safe. But if it is damaged or disturbed, it can be released into the air as microscopic fibres and dust. If asbestos dust is inhaled it can, over very long periods of time (25 years or more) result in fatal cancers.
When fine asbestos fibres enter the respiratory system, they embed into lung tissue and they trigger an inflammatory reaction. The body’s immune system then sends white blood cells to attack the foreign particles, only for them to resist the attack triggering further inflammation. This continuous cycle repeats itself until the lungs becomes irreversibly scarred, causing a condition known as fibrosis.

 

Who’s susceptible to Asbestos related Diseases?

Basically anyone who’s exposed to asbestos dust is susceptible to asbestos related diseases. But the people that are particularly at risk are those that are involved in the building and demolition trade and those involved in the manufacture of the asbestos products.
Asbestos fibres can be carried on the clothing of those that work regularly with asbestos. So the families and the people close to those working with asbestos are also at risk of exposure.

 

Symptoms of Asbestos Disease

Symptoms of asbestos disease doesn’t normally appear until an individual as been exposed to asbestos dust for many years.
The main symptoms are shortness of breath, tiredness, coughs and a tightness of the chest.
Asbestos causes the membrane that lines the outside of the lungs, the pleura, to thicken and this is the main cause for the symptoms noted above. The pleura is also the site where the cancer Mesothelioma originates which is caused by prolonged exposure to asbestos.

 

Diagnosis is very simple. Basically, a history of exposure, the usual set of symptoms, a chest x-ray and a lung function test is all that is needed to make a diagnosis.
There is no cure to asbestosis. The only way to prevent the onset of symptoms is to avoid all possible means of exposure.