What is asbestos and where does it come from?
ASBESTOS is a naturally-occurring mineral fibre that is mined principally in Canada (Quebec), Russia and Zimbabwe.
It has been known about since Roman times.
It has been used for its fire resistant properties.
It has also been used for strengthening cement without making it brittle.
Over the last century, asbestos has been built into many different products including pipe lagging, ceiling tiles and water pipes.
Workers have come into contact with asbestos in several stages:
- Mining (although not in Britain), transportation (including workers on merchant vessels bringing asbestos from the mining countries to Britain), dock workers.
- Manufacturing asbestos containing products and installing them in buildings and ships (especially lagging hot water systems).
- Construction work, including the use of building materials, but especially now work such as repair, maintenance and renovation.
- Working in areas where asbestos has been released into the working environment as it crumbles, such as teachers, doctors, clerical workers and so on.
Some people have been exposed to asbestos through what are known as para-occupational exposures.
This includes wives and daughters who cleaned the overalls of the men working with asbestos.
It also includes children playing in sites contaminated by asbestos either around factories, or where it has been dumped illegally.
When breathed in, asbestos fibres collect in the lungs.
They take a long time to be absorbed.
Because of their long life, and because they are often very fine and able to penetrate deep into the lung, they are a potent carcinogen.
They cause cancers such as lung cancer and other cancers around the body.
They also cause diseases like asbestosis.
They especially cause mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lung.
It can take over twenty to forty years to develop.
It is usually fatal within eighteen months of diagnosis.
Mesothelioma is caused almost entirely by asbestos.
It is therefore a “signature” disease.
Its prevalence is the basis of most estimates of asbestos-related disease.
It is a very painful way to die.
It is all but incurable.
However, there are some limited signs of hope.
Asbestos can also cause pleural thickening.
This is a disabling disease of the lining of the lung.
It can also cause pleural plaques.
These show up on X-rays and indicate asbestos exposure.
They do not always develop into more serious conditions.
Asbestos comes in several forms.
These are commonly known as blue, brown and white asbestos.
Blue and brown asbestos are more potent than white.
However, all forms cause cancer.
All forms have now been banned in the UK.
“Bristol Evening Post” 24th January 2002
Humphreys & Co. are pleased to support the North Bristol NHS Trust Mesothelioma Research Fund
