Asbestos & Mesothelioma

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that is cheap to mine, flexible, virtually indestructible and fire resistant. Because of these desirable properties, more than 3,000 products used in our society today contain asbestos, including building insulation, electrical wiring and roofing materials.

In 1989, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tried to ban the use of asbestos through certain federal regulations. Asbestos companies sued the EPA soon after, and the regulations were overturned. As a result, few products containing asbestos were actually banned. In fact, asbestos is still imported and used in consumer and commercial products today.

According to the EPA, nearly 107,000 primary and secondary schools and 733,000 public and commercial buildings house asbestos-containing materials.

Even more alarming, more than 2 million tons of asbestos were imported into the United States in 2007, according to some estimates. In addition, millions of tons of asbestos used decades ago remain embedded in our buildings and in many products we use every day.

Dangers of Asbestos

Asbestos is not like most minerals. Instead of turning to dust when it is crushed, asbestos breaks into tiny fibers that are invisible to the naked eye. These fibers hang suspended in the air for long periods of time and can easily be inhaled or ingested.

During processing and manufacturing, these fibers are typically bonded with other ingredients or encased in some manner, creating ACMs (asbestos-containing materials). When ACMs become old or damaged, they release asbestos fibers into the air. ACMs are especially dangerous when they are friable (dry and easily crumbled). Sprayed-on asbestos fireproofing material is generally considered friable. Even materials that are considered “non-friable” – such as vinyl-asbestos floor tile or asbestos cement pipe – can easily release fibers into the air if they are cut, sawed, sanded, broken or crushed. This occurs every time these products are handled or otherwise disturbed.

Whether from friable ACMs or from “non-friable” products, once asbestos fibers are released into the air, they are swallowed or inhaled into the lungs.

Once in the lungs, asbestos fibers can become embedded and cause scarring of the lungs or lung cancer. The fibers can also cause mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs. Because asbestos is virtually indestructible, it can remain in the lungs for an entire lifetime. Asbestos diseases have a long latency period. It may take 15 to 45 years after exposure for an asbestos disease to develop.