Illness Related To Asbestos Exposure

As a Los Angeles, CA asbestos contractor from Nielsen Environmental explains, asbestos exposure can lead to Mesothelioma cancer, COPD, asbestosis, pleural thickening, pleural plaques, atelectasis, and pleural effusions. Research also connects asbestos exposure to ovarian cancer, lung cancer, and laryngeal cancer. Asbestosis is one of the most prevalent asbestos-related illnesses. Similar to other types of disease, including Mesothelioma, asbestosis is the result of breathing in asbestos fibers. Symptoms do not usually appear until years after the exposure has already happened. Mesothelioma and asbestosis are among the most known asbestos illnesses, but there are so many others linked to asbestos inhalation or ingestion. 

There are two different asbestos exposure disease categories: malignant and benign, or cancerous. But despite some diseases being nonmalignant, they can still pose a risk to that person’s life. Malignant asbestos diseases include lung cancer, ovarian cancer, laryngeal cancer, pleural Mesothelioma, and peritoneal Mesothelioma. Malignant diseases that are possibly connected to asbestos exposure entail colon cancer, stomach cancer, and pharyngeal cancer. Conditions such as asbestosis, pleural thickening, hyaline pleural plaques, atelectasis, pericardial effusion, and peritoneal effusion are all examples of nonmalignant asbestos-related illnesses. Other cancers that may be associated with exposure to asbestos include gallbladder cancer, throat cancer, kidney cancer, and esophageal cancer. 

Symptoms of exposure to asbestos include wheezing, persistent cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, clubbed fingertips, and pain in shoulder or chest. The first signs of asbestos poisoning are chest tightness, dry cough, and crackling or dry sounds in the lungs when inhaling. The most common method used to determine if you have been exposed to asbestos is an x-ray of the chest. But the x-ray in itself cannot detect asbestos fibers, but can identify early signs of lung disease that is from asbestos exposure. In most people with asbestosis, symptoms may appear around within 20-30 years after exposure. But if someone is around asbestos for an extended period of time, like a decade or longer, the latency period for symptoms is closer to 20 years. It is possible to develop asbestos-related disease after just one exposure, if the exposure was enough to cause asbestos particles to accumulate and get stuck in the body’s tissues. 

While we do not intend to startle people with this information, it is the only way to understand the serious risk of absorbing asbestos material. Asbestos particles are tiny, and cannot be seen in the air itself, which makes it even more dangerous to be around. We hope that if you are worried about your exposure, or your families or employees, that you take action now to remove it. Even though symptom development often doesn’t happen for decades later, it doesn’t mean that exposure to it now should be shrugged off.

There are instances in life when we can handle something ourselves without professional assistance, but this is not one of those times. We cannot emphasize enough the risk of attempting to remove asbestos by yourself without professional help, training, and equipment. If you need asbestos removed now, then call a Los Angeles asbestos contractor from Nielsen Environmental today.