What are the asbestos risk factors? Mesothelioma cancer statistics indicate that specific environments, industries and jobs have a higher mesothelioma risk. The risk of getting cancer from asbestos is very real.

A risk factor is anything that increases your chance of getting the diagnosis: malignant mesothelioma. But having a risk factor, or even several asbestos disease risk factors, does not mean that you will develop mesothelioma lung cancer.

Exposure to asbestos is the main risk factor for developing mesothelioma injury. This injury could develop into full fledged mesothelioma lung cancer.

So, what are the risk asbestos factors? And how do we manage the risk of asbestos exposure?

Mesothelioma Statistics

Mesothelioma statistics reveal that 2,000 to 3,000 new mesothelioma cases annually receive the diagnosis: malignant mesothelioma. Approximately 70 to 80 percent of all cases of mesothelioma are found to be the direct result of asbestos exposure.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as many as a three quarter million schools and public buildings in the country today contain asbestos insulation. These were built before new asbestos mesothelioma law started to constrain the use of asbestos early in the 1970s. Asbestos insulation may be found in as many as 10% to 15% of schools in the United States.

Industrial Risk

What is the industrial asbestos risk of your work place? The mesothelioma risk attached to various industries can be plotted on a continuum: from high industrial risk - to the least risk.

Firstly, you must identify asbestos content inherent to your building, equipment, raw materials or products. Then compare this information with mesothelioma statistics for your industry.

Environmental Risk

What is the asbestos risk of your environment? Asbestos minerals are widespread in the global environment.

Asbestos risk may occur in large natural deposits, or as contaminants in other minerals and products. If you are exposed to asbestos, many factors determine asbestos exposure risk and potential asbestos related diseases.

These factors include the how much, how long, the mineral form and size distribution, and how you come in contact with it. Studies have shown that smokers are more prone to asbestos disease than non-smokers.

Does the Silent Killer stalk your work place? The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations (CAWR) place the duty on employers to identify and assess occupational asbestos risk.

Asbestos Disease Risk

Asbestos disease risk, is the risk of serious disease after inhaling asbestos dust. In industry, they separate and process asbestos fibers into new compounds and textures, forming a microscopic dust.

If inhaled, it can collect in the lungs, stomach or other organs and eventually lead to the development of serious, life threatening asbestos diseases. A mesothelioma prognosis is almost never favourable.

Asbestos Products Risk

Asbestos products risk? The Silent Killer Stalking? The risk of mesothelioma lung cancer from asbestos insulation, asbestos siding, asbestos tile, asbestos flooring, and a host of other products exist everywhere around us.

Asbestos was not only cheap to buy, but it is also pliable and sometimes, soft like cotton. Some forms of asbestos fibers have cloth-like qualities.

Asbestos fibers can therefore be easily woven into fireproof protection apparel for rescue officials and firefighters. Items for other professionals and workers, who are exposed to high heat, are also manufactured, creating asbestos products risk.

Its industrial properties was in strong demand during the industrial revolution. An estimated 4,000 products made during the 1900s contained asbestos fibers

Asbestos Risk Assessment

You need specialist advisors to perform an asbestos risk assessment in managing and preventing mesothelioma injury. Their asbestos testing protocol and results are also invaluable for mesothelioma research projects.

All entries in a company's asbestos register become vital in the event that you receive a call from an asbestos lawyer who works on a mesothelioma claim.

City and town management are increasingly being held responsible for asbestos exposure in the areas under their management.

It is expected that the focus in this regard will soon expand to seaside venues. Asbestos used to be the building material of choice close to the oceans.

Asbestos Risk Management

Asbestos risk management is the legal responsibility of every manager or owner of a business, or landlord. Asbestos mesothelioma law is clear i.t.o. management's responsibility.

There is an increased global effort to minimise asbestos exposure, cut down on mesothelioma injury and asbestosis mesothelioma.

This was driven in part by the large asbestos settlements granted in mesothelioma lawsuits.

Early in the 1970s we saw the first drafts of mesothelioma cancer law accepted by various regulating bodies of developed countries internationally.

However in a country like South Africa, laws were only made in 2008 to finally control the mining and manufacturing of asbestos products.

Most asbestos products are reasonably safe if it is kept undisturbed, painted and well maintained. However, most people will be surprised to notice the large number of asbestos products in their living and work environments, that are poorly maintained.

Pieter Pepler is a management consultant to small and medium enterpises. He has a keen interest in in health aspects and spends much of his time researching and writing about the causes and alternative treatment options for the natural treatment of various chronic diseases.

His work on asbestos mesothelioma risk and related research is published on his Mesothelioma-Junction.com [http://www.diagnosis-malignant-mesothelioma-prognosis-claims-settlement.com] website.

Pieter has also done an asbestos picture study of asbestos in a popular seaside holiday destination, entitled: A Silent Killer Stalking Your Favorite Beach Destination?

 

 

For the eye of the unsuspecting public, asbestos is a miracle material that protects their houses and other materials from easily contracting fire. But, behind these advantages to homeowners, the industrial workers suffer from health hazards that are oftentimes fatal.

Asbestos was primarily used to fireproof houses; it was also popular as a roofing. However, during the recent years, many diseases have been related to it and it is apparent that many more will be discovered that can be directly rooted to asbestos.

But asbestos, as is, does not really cause the diseases. Instead, the culprit is known to be the asbestos fiber that comes from the damaged asbestos materials. These accumulate through continuous dilapidation of asbestos-based products, say the roofing of your attic. Once there are conditions that led to the damaging of the asbestos, it is likely that the material will release asbestos fiber that can be sent to the air. The danger now comes when a person inhales the asbestos fiber since it will likely stay in the air passages - the lungs, thus leaving fibers that can cause asbestos diseases.

There are higher risks though in industrial workplaces such as mines, shipyards, construction sites, and railroads since there are higher degrees of asbestos use. Thus, people who have worked in these places are likely to have higher risks of contracting asbestos diseases. This is also the reason why mesothelioma, laryngeal cancer or asbestosis are considered as occupational diseases.

There are several risk factors that will largely determine the probability that you will contract asbestos diseases. These include the following:

Concentration - Asbestos diseases will only develop in relation to the degree of exposure. There should be enough concentration of asbestos in the air we breathe before we even begin to develop asbestos disease silently. If such concentration is not met, the likelihood that a person will contract the disease is very low thus, even if you were around a house with dilapidated roofing made of asbestos, that is still not enough reason for your body to react violently. Companies who practice regulation of the degree of asbestos fiber in the atmosphere of the worksites are at very low risks of jeopardizing the health of their workmen.

Duration - Asbestos exposure needs a relatively long period of time before the person is endangered.

Dose - There is a certain combination of concentration and duration that limits the person's capability to resist the disease. Once the immune system is breached, the person is likely to suffer from a continuous development of asbestos diseases without usually knowing the presence of the disease.

Asbestos diseases are usually dose-responsive. This means that with a longer exposure comes higher dosage of asbestos fiber exposure. Therefore, there are high risks of contracting and developing diseases.

Typically, the development of any asbestos disease depends on this dosage-response principle. People who have worked in industries that make use of large asbestos concentration are at greater risk of developing asbestos diseases than those who have used asbestos materials once in their house only. In the same way, a working period of 15 years against 5 years in an asbestos mine has a greater risk factor of building up amounts of asbestos fiber in the body.

But, the greater danger is that both are susceptible to asbestos diseases and other inflammatory and asbestos-related diseases. These include health conditions such as lung cancer and those that affect the mesothelium, the tissue that lines several organs in the body that are most vulnerable to asbestos diseases.

But the problem with asbestos diseases is that they take decades before initial symptoms of diseases are seen. This is the reason why people who have worked in asbestos exposed work sites only discover that they are ill after 20 to 50 years. Family members of these people are also at great risk since asbestos fiber can be transferred to the air.

The time from the initial exposure to the first signs of symptoms is called the latency period. As we have said, this can take anywhere from 20 to 50 years. But the shortest latency period is 5 to 10 years, but this is relatively rare. Chances are, the victim will never get rid of the asbestos fiber once it is inhaled or ingested. This is because the asbestos fiber will remain trapped in the lungs for life.

There is hope in treatment though yet there are no cures for asbestos diseases. The best thing that one can do is to help alleviate the symptoms to lessen the suffering of the victim.

 

 

Peritoneal mesothelioma is less common than pleural mesothelioma, but both of these typically malignant mesotheliomas can be just as tragic. Peritoneal mesothelioma begins in the abdominal cavity, as opposed to the lungs and pleural areas of pleural mesothelioma. “Peritoneal” means it has to do with the peritoneum, which is a membrane that surrounds the abdominal area. “Pleural” refers to the pleura which is a membrane that surrounds the lungs. There is also a “pericardial” mesothelioma which targets the heart membrane first.


The lungs, abdominal area and heart all have a membrane made up of mesothelial cells, named the mesothelium. A cancerous attack of these membrane areas are mesotheliomas. Asbestos is the cause of peritoneal mesothelioma, pleural mesothelioma and pericardial mesothelioma in well over 90% of the cases. There are a few rare recorded cases of malignant mesothelioma when asbestos exposure was not identified. If you have been exposed to asbestos, there is a high chance you will suffer from an asbestos-caused disease such as asbestosis or pleural plaques. However, not all asbestos-caused diseases are fatal.


Peritoneal mesothelioma, pleural mesothelioma and pericardial mesothelioma can be fatal malignant mesotheliomas which spread uncontrollably, or they can be benign, when the tumor stays where it is and can likely be removed. Unexplainable weight loss is a mesothelioma symptom which may occur in as many as 90% of benign and malignant mesothelioma. Generally, benign mesothelioma tends to show less symptoms than malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma symptoms for peritoneal mesothelioma almost always includes abdominal pain. This is because there is excess fluid between the peritoneal membrane and the abdomen walls. Pleural mesothelioma has excess fluid in the pleural area and this causes shortness of breath and chest pain.


The mesothelioma symptoms of pleural mesothelioma and pericardial mesothelioma are not as outwardly visible as the symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma. In peritoneal mesothelioma, the abdomen can appear larger. Tumor masses may be visible, but external tumor visibility only occurs in a minority of peritoneal mesothelioma cases. Nausea is a common mesothelioma symptom with peritoneal mesothelioma, and the abdominal area will also be very tender.


In a healthy peritoneal area between the membrane and the wall, the peritoneal fluid helps the intestines move food. In peritoneal mesothelioma however, excess fluid causes bowel obstruction. The mesothelioma symptoms of extra fluid and bowel obstruction both contribute to abdominal pain. The bowel obstruction can also produce mesothelioma symptoms of constipation and diarrhea. Many peritoneal malignant mesothelioma patients have reported mesothelioma symptoms of a burning sensation in the abdomen. Mesothelioma symptoms for peritoneal malignant mesothelioma may not surface for 20-30 years after asbestos exposure, but it generally surfaces sooner than pleural mesothelioma.


Peritoneal mesothelioma is fortunately rare, however its rarity sometimes makes it harder to diagnose. The symptoms are similar to hernias and gall bladder problems
, and identifying peritoneal mesothelioma in a CT scan is difficult. The medical industry is aware that asbestos-related diseases will be escalating over the upcoming years, and treatment for peritoneal malignant mesothelioma is undergoing many clinical trials. If you have been exposed to asbestos and have unexplainable abdominal pain and are experiencing unexplained weight loss, begin preliminary testing for peritoneal mesothelioma. The sooner the testing begins, the higher the chances for symptomatic relief, and hopefully today’s mesothelioma clinical trials will lead to a mesothelioma cure in the future.