Asbestos

What is it?

Asbestos is a group of six different fibrous minerals: These six minerals are crocidolite, amosite, chrysotile, and also different fibrous varieties of tremolite, anthophyllite, actinolite, They fibers occur naturally in soil and rocks in many areas. These fibers are resilient in that they are resistant to most chemicals and heat, making them hard to destroy. The fibers vary in length and may be straight or curled and are very pliable.

It is and has been used in a wide range of manufactured goods both in the construction industry: roofing shingles, floor & ceiling tiles, paper products, cement products, in the automotive industry in friction products (automobile clutch, brake, and transmission parts), textiles, packaging, gaskets, and coatings. They were also used extensively in the shipbuilding industry for years.

What effect does it have on the body?

The thing that makes asbestos so good for manufacturing is the same thing that makes it so bad for the body; it’s durability and resistance to chemicals & outside forces. When the particles become airborne they are microscopic in size and easily inhaled. Once inside the body they lodge themselves in the lining of the major organs known as the mesothelium.

The body in reaction to the intrusion begins secreting acids to dissolve the intruder but because of it’s reliance it has little if any affect on the fiber, but after continued secretion does have an affect on the body itself as it begins to scar the tissue surrounding the fiber. Over years these scars can turn into asbestosis or mesothelioma, which is cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.
The symptoms of mesothelioma don’t appear from anywhere from 20-50 years making it very hard to diagnose since it may have been years if not decades since the original exposure to asbestos.

The symptoms can also mirror other diseases such as pneumonia complicating and delaying correct treatment for this asbestos exposure cancer.