Asbestos has been used in the production of various products for several years. Even though the dangers of asbestos are well documented, some manufacturing enterprises still expose their employees to the apparent hazards. Some miners too carry out mining in total disregard to the immediate surrounding community and the environment.
Some governments, especially in developing countries also do very little to address the effects of asbestos and asbestos products to their citizens. It is in such countries where asbestos lawsuit settlement claims are on the rise. Such negligence by governments has led to employees and communities living around asbestos mining areas with serious illnesses that are difficult to treat. Some authorities have however taken necessary steps to ensure the safety of employees and communities living around mining areas. Measures instituted include prescribing restrictions on the amount of asbestos that an employee can be exposed to at a work place, normally 0.1 fibers of asbestos per cubic centimeter per day.
However, everybody is at risk of contracting asbestos related diseases. Asbestos can be inhaled from the air and can also be found in some drinking water, even from natural sources. These can contain millions of asbestos fibers that are far above reasonable limits. Asbestos causes a number of health problems, which include:
- Lung tissue scar (asbestosis): Inhaled asbestos fiber, which can be very thin and short (thinner than hair) get deposited in the lungs, interfering with normal breathing as a result of scars created. In severe cases, an affected person may not be able to breathe at all and death is possible. Accumulation of asbestos fiber deposits in the lungs can be over a long period, ranging from 15 - 30 years of exposure.
- Mesothelioma: This is a rapidly fatal tumor (cancer) that spreads over the mesothelium of the pleura, pericardium or peritoneum. This type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos can be dormant for many years and is always fatal. Mesothelioma has also been recorded in animals found in areas where asbestos is mined.
- Plaques: Such occur in the pleural and can be seen through x-rays of those exposed to asbestos.
- Warts: These are asbestos warts that are caused by tiny and sharp asbestos fibers pierce and get logged in the skin. They cause growth that may be difficult to treat.
The health concerns of asbestos become real when one gets continuously exposed to asbestos fibers, ending up inhaling the fibers that are in most cases not visible to the eye. The risk of contracting asbestos related disease becomes high as one gets exposed continuously over a long period. For a one time exposure, even in high concentration, no disease can occur. One factor that puts those exposed in great danger is smoking. This increases the risk as a smoker will directly inhale the fibers straight into the lungs at high rates.
Asbestos related diseases are hard to treat and may be very expensive. This has led to the establishment of asbestos lawsuit settlement laws. Once one is infected, such conditions can only be managed to ease any pain or discomfort that may arise. It is common for children born and brought up in asbestos mining areas not to reach their adulthood, ending up dying as a result of continued daily exposure to asbestos fibers.