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Asbestos Related Disease.

Though minerals in many forms, are helpful in many ways, some are deleterious to our health. Asbestos, for example, has proven to be one such mineral which has caused one asbestos related disease after another. For workers, neighbors, or people in the vicinity, coming into contact with airborne asbestos fibers can bring the risk of contracting an asbestos-related disease like Mesothelioma.

Fine particles of Asbestos in the air cause the problem! 

As asbestos gets crushed, particles of the smallest dimensions those too small to be detected by the human eye--get released into the air. These particles are inhaled or ingested by the worker, by people within close proximity, and even by those at home when the worker comes home with asbestos particles on his or her clothing.

What is 'Mesothelioma' and how is it caused? 

The asbestos related disease begins here, as the invasion of asbestos particles damages internal parts and organs: two layers of a thin membrane of cells (called 'mesothelial cells') cover and surround, the lungs, the heart, the stomach, and other vital organs.

When the person inhales or ingests the asbestos particles, the mesothelium (the cells) develop, divide, and multiply in an unhealthy and abnormal way. They typically become destructive to tissues, cells, and organs "as a cancer", the asbestos related disease called 'Mesothelioma'. As you may have read about, or heard about on specific ads, for 'asbestos related disease'.

Persons who worked with asbestos.

The first kind of person, who may contract the disease of 'Mesothelioma' is the one who experiences, or experienced, in the past, the occupational exposure to asbestos.  

In the case of the use of Asbestos as an 'insulation', that is, insitu, and not damaged, broken, or opened, or that is left intact, this is not normally a problem, but in the factory, the shipyard, the mines, at renovation sites and elsewhere, wherever asbestos fibers are freed into the air, or wherever they are 'broken', 'sawed' or 'cut' into, etc., such workers are at risk from the asbestos-related disease.

Others in contact with asbestos workers are also at risk. 

Just as disheartening is the chance of those who come into contact with the person who has been exposed to the asbestos fibers in the air, for they are likely to experience para-occupational exposure and are therefore also at risk, at another level, for asbestos-related diseases like 'Mesothelioma'.

There is also a neighborhood risk to people working near to asbestos factories or sites. 

And as odd as it might seem, being so far away from the initial contact site, those who live or work near a place where asbestos has been released, are also at risk for contracting an asbestos related disease by way of what is termed 'neighborhood exposure'.

Asbestos in no longer used, but the existing use in buildings etc have to be cleared. 

Though a ban in the mid-1970s and the subsequent efforts, to remove tons of existing asbestos-containing materials (a.k.a. ACM) have made people more aware, safer, and better protected, those originally exposed millions between 1940 and 1980 have had to deal with such asbestos related diseases as, 'Mesothelioma', 'lung cancer', and 'asbestosis'.

However, help is available"from environmental protection agencies", legal experts, and qualified medical professionals.

• If you have any contact with asbestos, in the past, ensure that the necessary checks are made by experts. Both medical and legal.