Asbestos and Lung Cancer - What You Need to Know?

Answer 1

In the construction field, asbestos and lung cancer are two subjects that have been intertwined for a long time. While class action lawsuits have been a relatively new phenomenon, the risks associated with asbestos have been known about for a long time only to be covered up by industries. Today asbestos is rarely used, but it still can pose a risk for certain people

History. Asbestos is a set of naturally occurring silicate materials. These materials have a fibrous make up. Asbestos was known about as far back as the ancient Greeks. It was used in ancient times for table clothes. Tales from Marco Polo tell of Chinese emperors cleaning asbestos clothes by tossing them into fires. But even as its use has been known, its dangers have also been clear. Pliny the Elder noticed that the material damaged lungs of slaves who were charged with weaving asbestos into materials for royalty.

Later in the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution sped the use of asbestos and sped incidents of lung cancer. As early as the 1900s, British and American scientists were noticing a link between asbestos and lung failure. One case in 1927 documented a 33-year-old worker in an asbestos carding room who was the sole Survivor out of a workforce of ten. The industry spent much of the 1900s denying and hiding the link between the asbestos and lung cancer. As a result many lawsuits, both class action and individual, have been filed to deal with the damage that this material has caused.

Today Today the link between asbestos and lung cancer is established. As a result, most uses of asbestos have been eliminated, and industries are in the process of phasing out and eliminating existing uses of this toxic material. While a short term exposure, even of high use, will not cause lung cancer (or several smaller exposures), it is still enough of a toxic material that there are strict guidelines for its use and many uses common in earlier days are now forbidden. Even with this, about 10,000 people die every year from asbestos-related diseases.

Conclusion The link between asbestos and lung cancer is clear, proven, and a historical fact. Though it has been covered up in modern history for economic gain, today it is regarded as a highly toxic material and used in only rare occasions. Several nations have all but banned it and, though no complete ban is in place in the United States, its reputation makes its use rare if nonexistent.