Asbestos

Exposure to even a single fibre of asbestos dust can cause significant health problems - Ricky van der Zwan & Julie Tucker

Asbestos
Asbestos

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Why the health threat from asbestos is not a thing of the past


“Calais Jungle Camp littered with asbestos”; “Buckingham Palace could be vacated to remove asbestos”; “Safety concerns for refugees and workers as Nauru asbestos removal programme kicks off”.

Such headlines occur with monotonous regularity. Widespread asbestos use throughout much of the 20th century has ensured that the next contamination scandal is never far off. Despite this, asbestos has not captured the public imagination as a public health threat – at least, not in comparison with other threats such as excessive sun exposure and drink driving.

Useful but deadly

Asbestos is a versatile, fibrous mineral that can be cheaply mined and has…

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 Why the health threat from asbestos is not a thing of the past

Such headlines occur with monotonous regularity. Widespread asbestos use throughout much of the 20th century has ensured that the next contamination scandal is never far off. Despite this, asbestos has not captured the public imagination as a public health threat – at least, not in comparison with other threats such as excessive sun exposure and drink driving.

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

People are more likely to experience asbestos-related disorders when they are exposed to high concentrations of asbestos, are exposed for longer periods of time, and are exposed more often. The time lag between significant inhalation of asbestos and any adverse health manifestations can be as long as 30 or more years.

Asbestos and Disease

This is an outline account of the risk of disease associated with asbestos exposure. A companion page deals with other occupational and environmental lung diseases.

Asbestos still haunts those exposed as kids in mining towns

So although all types of asbestos have been found to cause asbestos-related diseases, some types lead to more of these diseases than others. Blue asbestos (the type that was mined at Wittenoom, Western Australia) is the worst for human health, followed by amosite, and then chrysotile.

Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization

The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is the largest independent asbestos victims’ organization in the U.S. It was founded in 2004 to give asbestos victims and concerned citizens a united voice, to raise public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure and to work towards a global asbestos ban.

Asbestos Watchdog

Our FREE asbestos advice service has answered over 10,000 queries saving UK businesses and homeowners in excess of 40 Million.

Asbestos.com

Our mission is two-fold: to educate the public about how to avoid the dangers of asbestos and to assist people who have already been diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases.

International Ban Asbestos Secretariat

IBAS provides a conduit for the exchange of information between groups and individuals working to achieve a global asbestos ban and seeking to alleviate the damage caused by widepsread asbestos use.

CDC

This topic page provides links to existing NIOSH recommendations for controlling work-related exposures. It also offers information about "Asbestos and Other Mineral Fibers: A Roadmap for Scientific Research".

EPA

This page provides access to information about asbestos. On this Web site, you may access general information about asbestos and its health effects. You may also read about what to do if you suspect asbestos in products, in your home or in your school.

Health and Safety Executive

The information on this website will be of particular interest to employers, asbestos contractors and others with duties under asbestos regulations, together with those workers currently at greatest risk from exposure to asbestos.

National Cancer Insitute

Individuals who have been exposed (or suspect they have been exposed) to asbestos fibers on the job, through the environment, or at home via a family contact should inform their physician of their exposure history and any symptoms.

Toxic Substances Portal

This fact sheet answers the most frequently asked health questions about asbestos. This information is important because this substance may harm you.

U.S. Department of Labor

Asbestos is well recognized as a health hazard and is highly regulated. An estimated 1.3 million employees in construction and general industry face significant asbestos exposure on the job.

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