Diseases from Asbestos
Occupational exposure to asbestos is known to cause several
distinct types of injuries. Generally, the longer a person is
exposed to asbestos dust and the greater the intensity of this
exposure the more likely that person is to develop an asbestos-related
illness.
Individual susceptibility does, however, vary greatly. In other
words, some people can be exposed to a great deal of asbestos
over a long period of time and never develop an asbestos-related
injury. On the other extreme, some people can be exposed to very
little asbestos and suffer fatal asbestos related injuries. All
asbestos-related diseases have rather long latency periods (period
of time between the first exposure to asbestos and the diagnosis
of an asbestos-related disease) ranging from 5 to 40 or more
years.
Even though a person may have been exposed to asbestos many years ago, they can still develop asbestos-related injuries
today. This is because the human body can never entirely rid
itself of ingested asbestos. The asbestos continues to do its
damage to the lungs and other organs long after exposure has
stopped.
In general, asbestos can cause two different types of illnesses;
malignant diseases (cancers caused in organs with which ingested
asbestos comes into contact); and non-malignant diseases (scarring
processes of the lung or covering of the lung).
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