Asbestos
Have you ever heard of asbestos and lung cancer? Have you wondered why asbestos is widely used in several industries? Well, asbestos is known for having a silicate mineral and bunch of crystals rich in fiber that can be divided into slim and stable threads which are all resistant to chemicals, resistance to heat or fire, inability to conduct electricity, absorption of sounds, and tensile strength. This is the top reason why manufacturers and builders have started to use it extensively ever since the late 19th century in North America.
Asbestos and lung cancer are related because asbestos can be inhaled through people’s workplaces, communities and their homes as well. Despite its extensive use, high exposure to asbestos fibers where it can be inhaled in a prolonged time period makes it a health problem. Tiny asbestos fibers when exposed can be released into the air causing them to get stuck inside the lungs for a long period of time.
The victims of high exposure to asbestos are common in several job-related surroundings such as auto-repair shops, construction sites, manufacturing plants, mines, railroads, and shipyards. Other high-risks sites include homes, schools, public buildings and even in unpaved roads.
People who are more exposed to high fiber concentrations in a long period of time have a higher and greater risk acquiring diseases than resulting from a solitary, high-level exposure or a little time of exposure to lesser levels. It is most common with people who are exposed to asbestos on a regular basis such as a job where they inhale it freely.
Asbestos may lead to serious, crucial, weakening and deadly diseases because it results to scarring and inflammation when highly exposed to it. It is proven that a combination of smoking and exposure to asbestos may lead to serious results. One of the dramatic effects of smoking is lung cancer because of the formation of amphibole asbestos that stays in the lungs for a lengthy period of time. There are studies that stated asbestos-exposed workers who have lessened their habit of smoking have also lessened their risks of acquiring lung cancer. Even those people who are non-smokers should not smoke in the future once they have known that they are or have been exposed to asbestos in their communities and workplaces.
Moreover, a disease that is related to asbestos exposure is the asbestos warts which resulted from sharp fibers that stayed in the skin and have grown to be benign callus-like. This is caused by inflammation which leads to overgrown asbestos fibers on the skin. However, it is a normally risk-free condition. Pleural plaques are also distinct stringy and partly calcified solidified portions that are visible in X-rays of people that are prone to the elements of asbestos. They are caused when the asbestos fibers enter the pleura, the sac that protects the external part of the lungs. Moreover, diffuse pleural thinking is also another condition of this kind that is related to asbestosis, the disease when the asbestos fibers are inhaled and trapped inside the lungs. Though it has no critical effect at the beginning, dysfunction of the lungs may occur if the presence of fibers become widely spread and prolonged.
Though asbestos exposure can really be dangerous to our health, it is still widely used in our surroundings. It is only a must that people should also be aware of its effects on us and the society to be show much more precautions to protect the people from acquiring such diseases. Causes of inhaling asbestos fiber will lead to mesothelioma asbestos exposure.
