Asbestos: Health iusses

Chrysotile asbestos, like all other forms of industrial asbestos, has produced tumors in animals. Mesotheliomas have been observed in people who were occupationally exposed to chrysotile, family members of the occupationally exposed, and residents who lived close to asbestos factories and mines.Brown asbestos, like all asbestos, is hazardous. Blue asbestos is commonly thought of as the most dangerous type of asbestos. Tremolite often contaminates chrysotile asbestos, thus creating an additional hazard.

Asbestos exposure becomes a health concern when high concentrations of asbestos fibers are inhaled over a long time period.People who become ill from asbestos are almost always those who are exposed on a day-to-day basis in a job where they work directly with the material. As a person's exposure to fibers increases, either by breathing more fibers or by breathing fibers for a longer time, that person's risk of disease also increases. Disease is very unlikely to result from a single, high-level exposure, or from a short period of exposure to lower levels.

Other asbestos-related diseases

Asbestos warts – caused when the sharp fibers lodge in the skin and are overgrown causing benign callus-like growths.

Pleural plaques – discrete fibrous or partially calcified thickened area which can be seen on X-rays of individuals exposed to asbestos. They do not become malignant or cause other lung impairment.

Diffuse pleural thickening – similar to above and can sometimes be associated with asbestosis. Usually no symptoms shown but if extensive can cause lung impairment.