Asbestos Exposure

At some point in our lives, there is a high probability that many of us have had asbestos exposure due to the asbestos products that were so widely used in the past for multiple purposes. Majority of the time however, most of us don't suffer as a result of this asbestos exposure as exposure limits are just not high enough to do significant damage. On the other hand though, people who have been diagnosed with an asbestos disease such as mesothelioma have worked in jobs which require the workers to work with and be in close proximity to asbestos.

Nevertheless, many individuals have died from mesothelioma due to being a family member of the worker, who have brought the killer fibres home on the clothes, skin and hair, whilst others have died who lived in close range to manufacturing plants. The problem with asbestos is that symptoms do not appear until years later.

Asbestos first started out commercially in North America during the 1800's but once World War II erupted, the use of it increased exponentially. From then it was used extensively in the shipyards for producing massive numbers of ships for the success of the war. This lead to a knock on effect of it being used for construction, the automotive industry as well as the manufacturing industry. All together, there was more than 5000 products invented, all of which contained asbestos. 

On a positive note, during the 1970's, the 'Consumer Products Safety Commission' banned the use of certain asbestos  products as the fibres could be released during use. This further progressed with the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) banning new uses developed for asbestos. Over all the deaths and all the problems, asbestos has still not been made fully illegal with it still being used in certain places at the owners own risk without concern for others.

Asbestos Exposure, Occupations & Job Sites

Recent statistics has demonstrated that many people who never work with asbestos have indeed developed asbestos related diseases, the majority of the victims lies within occupational exposure.

Job sites

Naturally, job sites such as manufacturing and processing plants and mines where asbestos was made, have a reputation of having high asbestos levels and risks.

On the other hand, many places where people work are also exposed to asbestos such as oil refineries, shipyards, power & chemical plants. Many jobs within these industries were also exposed to asbestos.

Occupations

Many jobs are at a higher risk in comparison to others as different jobs came into contact with asbestos more frequently than others and certain jobs used many asbestos products in the past.

An example of this would be regarding tradesmen such as electricians & plumbers, as many buildings have asbestos integrated into them, they are exposed almost everyday depending where they are working. Other occupations that would be in danger of this would be jobs such as fire starters, auto mechanics, machinists railway road workers and builders involved in renovation and restoration.

Armed Forces

Asbestos was so vastly used by divisions of the Armed Forces, for the purpose of insulation within crafts, buildings & vehicles.

However, one division that used asbestos so much was within the forces of the Navy, which discovered 100's of reasons to make use of asbestos for more than 40 years.

Asbestos was such the perfect material at the time, that its use was exploited in World War II for the production of ships. This led to thousands of people being exposed to asbestos such as Navy Veterans.

Other Exposure Accounts

Most cases undoubtedly happen during the working force, but there are other instances when people came into contact with asbestos. One example would be the attack of '911' on the Twin Towers of New York (World Trade Centre). There was reportedly meant to be around 2000 tons of asbestos released into the atmosphere which will affect thousands in years to come. It is already thought that a high 62% of those that were caught are already suffering from breathing and respiratory issues.

Another era of accidental and unavoidable exposure was due to Hurricane Katrina. This destroyed thousands of older houses that withheld asbestos. After 3 years of trying to resolve issues, there was still asbestos control measures occurring to prevent exposure to many people. This will cause many problems for many people in later life.

Asbestos Facts