Asbestos is a term referring to 6 naturally occurring fibrous minerals capable of resisting fire, heat, and electricity.
Asbestos fibres might be microscopic in nature, but they are incredibly durable and resistant to most chemical breakdowns and reactions as well as fire. The properties of asbestos supported its use for a long time in several different industrial and commercial applications, as well as in a variety of consumer products too. In recent decades, the use of asbestos has diminished, but there are numerous products containing asbestos, particularly older homes, public buildings, and schools.
Asbestos is perhaps most infamous for being associated with causing mesothelioma, which is a deadly and rare form of cancer that develops in the linings of the lungs, heart, or abdomen.
Health Risks Linked to Exposure to Asbestos
If airborne asbestos fibres are swallowed or inhaled, they may get lodged in the soft tissues of either the abdomen or lungs. The body has a hard time getting rid of the fibres which might trigger over a dozen health complications, cancer included.
It might take decades, but asbestos fibres are known to cause pleural mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis. The asbestos-related illnesses, in total, account for about 10,000 deaths in the United States alone every year.
Between 2,000 and 3,000 of these deaths, which is roughly about 1 every 3.4 hours are due to mesothelioma. The commonest form of the cancer is known as pleural mesothelioma, which develops in the lining of the lungs. While lung cancer might have other contributing causes, pleural mesothelioma is almost always caused by asbestos exposure.
Asbestos Regulations
Asbestos usage isn’t banned in the United States, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with other government entities strictly regulate it. Asbestos can only be used in products that historically have contained it. Simply put, no “new applications” are allowed. In addition, the products can only be made using asbestos if there’s no better substitute.
This has translated to a steep decline in its use nationwide. The domestic asbestos consumption stood at 803,000 metric tonnes in 1973. In 2005, consumption stood at a just 2,400 metric tonnes. The small amount that’s still used annually goes into products that require heat resistant and fireproof qualities. Products that may still be made using asbestos include pipe insulation, protective clothing, brake linings, and similar products.
Other products that are known historically to contain asbestos include:
Ceiling tiles, Electrical insulation, Wall panels, Asbestos Cement, Wallboard joint compound, Spray-on fireproofing, Boiler insulation, Floor tiles, Asbestos paper and millboard.
Persons that work around asbestos need adequate protection. Employers are required to notify workers of the presence of asbestos and supply proper protective gear, such as air-purifying respirators, before any task likely to disturb asbestos.
Long-Run Health Complications
Asbestos inhalation is unlikely to cause any harm immediately, but asbestosis along with other asbestos-related cancers usually arise many years after the initial exposure. The gap between exposure and the first time symptoms appear, which is referred to as the latency period, ranges from 10 to 50 years.
Due to the extended latency period, those exposed to asbestos prior to the government regulations of the 1980s may now only start to notice the symptoms of pleural mesothelioma. The latency period also implies that the peak in the cases of pleural mesothelioma aren’t likely to occur until several decades past the peak in the usage of asbestos. It is due to this reason that projects often estimate that the United States has still not experienced the highest yearly rate of mesothelioma cases.
According to most models, the maximum number of annual pleural mesothelioma diagnoses are likely to happen from 2015 to 2020. The estimates hold true for other parts of the world where there’s a similar history of asbestos use. For instance, researchers expect the national maximum to hit in 2016 while Dutch researchers project the peak to hit in 2017.
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