Every week in the United Kingdom, it is estimated that 20 tradesmen die from asbestos related diseases, plumbers, joiners, carpenters, electricians, shop fitters, plasterers, decorators, heating and ventilation engineers. You are all at risk of these diseases.
The pleura is a two-layered membrane which surrounds the lungs and lines the inside of the rib cage. Some asbestos fibres inhaled into lungs work their way out to the pleura and may cause fibrosis or scarring to develop there. This causes the pleura to thicken and this may show up on a chest X-ray or CT scan. Generally, those who suffer from pleural diseases do not go on to develop the more critical diseases such as Mesothelioma or asbestos-related lung cancer.
Pleural diseases occur in two forms:
Pleural thickening is scarring of lung tissue caused by asbestos exposure. The lining of the lung (pleura) thickens and swells. If this gets worse, the lung itself can be squeezed, which can cause shortness of breath and discomfort in the chest.
Pleural plaques are a form of scarring of the outer lining of the lung. Although pleural plaques do not normally cause any symptoms, they are an indication of previous exposure to asbestos. Workers with pleural plaques in most circumstances have a normal lung function.
Lung cancer is most commonly associated with cigarette smoking. However it can also be caused by breathing in asbestos dust and is quite a common complication of asbestosis. Medical experts are divided on whether lung cancer can be caused by exposure to asbestos dust in the absence of asbestosis.
Lung cancer can take around 20 - 40 years to develop from when the exposure to asbestos occurred. Smoking dramatically increases your chance of developing lung cancer if you have been exposed to asbestos. Statistically a cigarette smoker is 10 times more likely to develop lung cancer than a non smoker whereas a person working with asbestos is 5 times more likely to develop lung cancer than someone who has not been exposed to asbestos, however the effect is very significant in that a person who has been exposed to asbestos and also smokes is 50 times more likely to develop lung cancer than someone who does not smoke and has not had any exposure to asbestos.
Asbestosis is fibrosis, or scarring of the lungs caused by long term or heavy exposure to asbestos. This usually progresses slowly and can cause severe breathlessness. There is no known treatment to alter the progression of the disease. Asbestosis can take around 10 - 20 years from when you were first exposed to asbestos until it is detected.
There is usually a 10% chance of developing mesothelioma and a 20 - 50% chance of developing lung cancer (the commonest complication of asbestosis). Smoking significantly increases your chances of developing lung cancer if you have asbestosis.
Mesothelioma is a form of cancer almost always caused by exposure to asbestos dust. You need not have worked with asbestos in order to develop the disease as it can be caused by only small amounts of exposure. It is not uncommon for people to have been diagnosed with mesothelioma who have lived near asbestos factories or who have washed their partner's clothing.
The risk of developing the disease increases depending on how much asbestos dust you have breathed in, the more you have breathed in the more at risk you are of developing the disease.Mesothelioma affects the linings of the chest wall (pleural mesothelioma) or the lining of the stomach or abdomen (peritoneal mesothelioma).
It is difficult to diagnose and quite often a biopsy needs to be carried out to diagnose mesothelioma. Unlike lung cancer there is no known connection between cigarette smoking and the development of mesothelioma. The development of the disease can take between 10 - 40+ years after exposure to asbestos dust.
Here is an update from the Health & Safety Executive which continue to confirm that asbestos still remains the UK's biggest workplace killer.
The statistics shown on the following slide reveal asbestos related deaths still continue to be a major concern.
These figures which relate to Mesothelioma, Asbestosis as well as Pleural Thickening when combined represent well over 5,000 asbestos related deaths per year.
Annual deaths increased steeply over the last 50 years, largely as a result of asbestos exposure prior to 1980, and are now expected to continue at current levels for the rest of the decade before declining.
1. That approximately 20 tradesmen per week die from asbestos diseases
2. That asbestos diseases can take many decades to develop
3. That over 4,000 workers die each year in the UK from asbestos diseases
4. That asbestos is dose related - the more you breathe in, the greater the risk
5. That repeated small exposures can be as bad as a few high exposures
6. That the construction and refurbishment industry are of the highest risk
Asbestos respiratory diseases are contracted by?
Which of the following diseases is NOT related to exposure to asbestos?
Mesothelioma mainly affects which body organ?
Asbestosis is a disease that causes?
Which habit can increase the likelihood of contracting an asbestos related disease?
