The major risk factor for mesothelioma is exposure to asbestos. Only about 20% of the cases reported occur due to other reasons. These reasons are not vivid as yet. Asbestos is a the name of a category of minerals, and finds extensive use in several industrial products, including cement, brake linings, flooring products, roof shingles, textiles, and insulation. During the process of manufacturing, several small fibres float in air, which are inhaled and swallowed. Over a period of time, these asbestos fibres reach a threshold concentration in lungs and pleura, and lead to several complicated disorders. Besides mesothelioma, exposure to asbestos multiplies the risk of other health ailments like lung cancer, asbestosis, and other cancers such as the ones of lungs and kidney.
Asbestos Mesothelioma Facts
In the groups of workers with cumulative exposures to asbestos ranging from about 5 to 1200 fibre-year/ mL, diseases like lung cancer, mesothelioma, asbestosis etc. are found extensively. Such exposures result from 40 years of occupational exposure to air concentrations of 0.125 to 30 fiber/ Ml.
Tremolite asbestos exposure has been associated with an increased incidence of disease in vermiculite miners and millers from Libby, Montana.
Long and thin fibres reach the lower airways and alveoli of lungs, where they are retained for longer. These fibres are more toxic than short and wide fibres or particles. Wide particles deposit in the upper respiratory tract and do not reach the lung and pleura, which are the sites of asbestos-induced toxicity. Short, thin fibres play in role in asbestos pathogenesis.
Fibers of amphibole asbestos, for instance, tremolite asbestos, actinolite asbestos, and crocidolite asbestos are retained longer in the lower respiratory tract than chrysotile fibres of similar dimensions.
70-80% of the reported cases of mesothelioma occur due to chronic exposure to asbestos fibres.
Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an extremely painful cancer.
Smoking does not appear to increase the risk of mesothelioma, however, the combination of smoking and asbestos exposure steeply raises the slope of a person’s risk of developing cancer of the air passageways in the lung.
Asbestos Mesothelioma Facts
In the groups of workers with cumulative exposures to asbestos ranging from about 5 to 1200 fibre-year/ mL, diseases like lung cancer, mesothelioma, asbestosis etc. are found extensively. Such exposures result from 40 years of occupational exposure to air concentrations of 0.125 to 30 fiber/ Ml.
Tremolite asbestos exposure has been associated with an increased incidence of disease in vermiculite miners and millers from Libby, Montana.
Long and thin fibres reach the lower airways and alveoli of lungs, where they are retained for longer. These fibres are more toxic than short and wide fibres or particles. Wide particles deposit in the upper respiratory tract and do not reach the lung and pleura, which are the sites of asbestos-induced toxicity. Short, thin fibres play in role in asbestos pathogenesis.
Fibers of amphibole asbestos, for instance, tremolite asbestos, actinolite asbestos, and crocidolite asbestos are retained longer in the lower respiratory tract than chrysotile fibres of similar dimensions.
70-80% of the reported cases of mesothelioma occur due to chronic exposure to asbestos fibres.
Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an extremely painful cancer.
Smoking does not appear to increase the risk of mesothelioma, however, the combination of smoking and asbestos exposure steeply raises the slope of a person’s risk of developing cancer of the air passageways in the lung.
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