The Truth About Asbestos and Associated Health Risks
Asbestos has been around for many years even before its uses were discovered by inventors and scientists. It is a naturally occurring mineral on the Earth\’s surface. Because of its durability and properties that make it resemble cloth-like fibres, the mineral found its way as the main component of many household products. It also became a core component of the construction materials builders use in roofing, walls, and floors. Despite its many beneficial uses, asbestos is now subjected to a worldwide due to an assortment of health risks associated with exposure to the mineral.
To clarify the issue, asbestos imposes no danger when it is in pretty good condition. Health risks become a real problem when the products or materials containing asbestos started to deteriorate such that the fibres become thrown into the air people breathe.
The health risks associated with exposure to asbestos range from simple to chronic to fatal ones. Lung cancer and mesothelioma are two of the worst diseases caused by exposure to asbestos. They can lead to death when not properly attended to. The problem with the diseases linked with asbestos lies within the large lag time before the disease clearly manifests.
In most cases, individuals may tend to show signs of asbestos-related diseases some 20 years after being first exposed to the mineral.
Mesothelioma is an advanced form of lung cancer. Symptoms include shortness of breath secondary to chest pain, fatigue, and coughing with blood in the sputum. To date, this disease is still considered incurable for which patients can die some years after being diagnosed of the diseases. This is a common occurrence despite the patient being subjected to several forms of mesothelioma treatments.
Due to this fact and with the occurrence of other asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis and pleural diseases, the call to remove asbestos in many products and in places like homes, schools, and buildings echoed loudly on many parts of the world.
In Australia, the use of asbestos was very rampant between 1945 to 1980s. The trend continued until the early years of the 90s until manufacturers and builders cannot contain the anger of their workers and the citizens anymore. They started to migrate their products to a safer level with the use of alternative raw material such as fibreglass.
Following this event, several reports started to surface pointing out the irreversible fact that manufacturers and builders do know of the health hazards posed by exposure to asbestos since the early 1900s. Most asbestos companies around the world have internal reports proving that they do know of how asbestos can badly affect the health of those who are exposed to it.
Thus, it can be concluded that due to the plain motive of profiting, these business entities have sacrificed the lives and health of those who are working hard for them. Despite knowing how dangerous asbestos exposure is, they still let their workers perform their job duties without any protective gear.
Negligence on the part of asbestos companies is the main reason why a large percentage of those who have worked for asbestos companies suffered from different respiratory diseases particularly mesothelioma and lung cancer. In Australia, many companies have stopped mining for asbestos, but still many individuals are filing asbestos-related cases. It is unfortunate that some of the cases have remained unresolved and uncompensated despite numerous deaths.
It is important for every person to know that asbestos-related diseases are not exclusive to those who are directly exposed to the mineral. There are cases of secondary exposure especially to the wives of those who have worked on asbestos mining sites and asbestos companies. The asbestos fibres that attached to the clothing of the workers are inhaled by their wives and family members triggering asbestos-related diseases too.
With the alarming health risks presented herein, you should do all efforts to remove asbestos off your Brisbane homes. There are many Brisbane asbestos removers that can help you eliminate, contain, encapsulate, and dispose all asbestos-containing materials and products in your home. They can even conduct a free asbestos inspection in your home to determine the amount that needs to be abated and to prepare an efficient plan that will make asbestos removal in your house an easier task.
This article was originally published at http://asbestosservicesbrisbane.com.
Jamie Alden is a freelance writer working towards information dissemination about asbestos and its threats. His thoughts on asbestos and the dangers it inflicts to human health can be read at http://asbestosservicesbrisbane.com.
Jamie Alden is a freelance writer working towards information dissemination about asbestos and its threats. His thoughts on asbestos and the dangers it inflicts to human health can be read at http://asbestosservicesbrisbane.com.
Author Bio: Jamie Alden is a freelance writer working towards information dissemination about asbestos and its threats. His thoughts on asbestos and the dangers it inflicts to human health can be read at http://asbestosservicesbrisbane.com.
Category: Cancer Survival
Keywords: asbestos, asbestos removal, builders, asbestosis, mesothelioma, Australia