What Are the Health Effects of Asbestos?
Humans have known about the health risks of asbestos exposure since the days of the Roman empire. By the 1930s doctors were diagnosing people with an asbestos-related cancer called mesothelioma.
The properties of asbestos that make it a “wonder mineral” such as its strength, stability, and the thin long shape of its crystals also make it particularly hazardous to our lungs. These tiny, durable asbestos fibers are easily airborne and, when inhaled or ingested, irritate sensitive tissues in our lungs or abdomens.
A microscopic image of asbestos fibers. (Credit: Ravaka/Wikimedia Commons)
The body’s natural processes for removing foreign substances don’t work well with the sharp mineral fibers. Asbestos cannot be broken down biologically and, barbed like a fish hook, the fibers are hard to physically remove once embedded in tissue.
While repeated or prolonged asbestos exposure is a greater risk, even a single exposure to asbestos may increase the risk of asbestos-related health problems like lung scarring, or cancer. These health effects are difficult to diagnose and can take decades to manifest.
Health Effects of Asbestos Exposure
People exposed to asbestos are at risk of some serious health problems. Tissue scarring from asbestos exposure, called asbestosis, will cause breathing trouble and can cause in pulmonary heart disease and lead to cancers. The underlying reason is physical damage to cells from the sharp fibers, which over time damages the cell’s DNA resulting in mesothelioma, and lung or laryngeal cancer.
An asbestos fiber embedded in lung tissue, with cancerous cells visible. (Credit: Ospedale S. Polo - Monfalcone/Wikimedia Commons)
Many health issues from asbestos do not show up for many years, even decades, after exposure. Mesothelioma can take as long as 20-60 years to develop. Smoking or vaping anything will dramatically increase the health risks of asbestos exposure.
The key to avoiding problems with asbestos is to not disturb it. Asbestos fibers become airborne when they are broken. Undisturbed, stable, and well-sealed asbestos materials in a building are not particularly hazardous, but if the material is disturbed (including during sampling) it will release dangerous fibers into the air. If any building materials are to be disturbed for any reason it should be tested for asbestos by a licensed professional who can safely and accurately determine whether asbestos is present.