Side Effects of Asbestos?
Posted on September 10th, 2009 by admin
Asbestos
I live in an apartment that has asbestos in the walls and ceiling, we signed a release saying we wouldnt sue them, but what are the side effects?
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I live in an apartment that has asbestos in the walls and ceiling, we signed a release saying we wouldnt sue them, but what are the side effects?
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Filed under: Respiratory Diseases
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Lung cancer is one of them.
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Excessive contact with asbestos has led to asbestosis (a lung disease caused by the inhalation of asbestos) and to cancer in some industrial workers. Experiments with animals have demonstrated that asbestos can cause tumors to develop if the fibers are embedded in lung tissue.
However:
There are several types of asbestos, and they are not equally hazardous. The form most commonly utilized in the United States is white asbestos, which comes from the mineral chrysolite. It has been used as an insulation material around pipes, in floor and ceiling tiles, and for brake linings of automobiles and other vehicles. Approximately 95% of the asbestos that is now in place in the United States is of the chrysolite type. Most of this asbestos was mined in Canada, and environmental health studies of Canadian miners show that exposure to chrysolite asbestos is not particularly harmful. Studies involving another type of asbestos, known as crocidolite asbestos (blue asbestos), suggest that exposure to this mineral can be very hazardous and evidently does cause lung disease. Several other types of asbestos have also been shown to be harmful.
A great deal of fear has been associated with nonoccupational exposure to chrysolite asbestos in the United States. Tremendous amounts of money have been expended to remove it from homes, schools, public buildings, and other sites in spite of the fact that there has been no asbestos-related disease recorded among those exposed to chrysolite in nonoccupational circumstances. It is now thought that much of the removal was unnecessary and that chrysolite asbestos doesn’t pose a significant health hazard. Additional research into health risks from other varieties of asbestos is necessary to better understand the potential problem and to outline strategies to eliminate potential health problems.