Can Lymphoma Be Caused By Asbestos Exposure?

The Medical Dangers of Asbestos 

Asbestos is the name given to a group of six naturally occurring minerals. People have sought out asbestos since ancient times, breaking it down into small, threadlike fibers to fortify and insulate an astonishing array of materials. Medieval Europeans found asbestos such a fantastic mineral that they wove legends around its origins, supposing it was shorn from the wool of vicious, fire-breathing salamanders. During the Industrial Revolution, factories across the United States began using asbestos to meet the burgeoning demand for inexpensive but durable building materials and consumer products. 

Unfortunately, asbestos’s resiliency is what makes it such a hazard; its fibers can remain in the body for decades, resisting the body’s natural defenses, spurring mutations, and inculcating cancer.

We know today that, in spite of its seemingly miraculous properties, asbestos poses an incredible danger; if it crumbles, degrades, or goes airborne, it is easily inhalable. Over time, asbestos fibers can infiltrate the respiratory system, accumulating inside the lungs and transiting the body through the bloodstream. 

Asbestos exposure has been tied to injuries, disorders, and diseases including but not limited to: 

• Pleural Plaques, the thickening of tissue around the lungs. While this condition is not life-threatening, it can accelerate or prompt more serious respiratory diseases and problems. 
• Asbestosis, a chronic lung condition caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibers. It is characterized by symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, and weight loss. Asbestosis gets worse over time and cannot be cured. 
• Mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer that causes severe respiratory problems. 
• Cancer, including cancer of the lungs, ovaries, and esophagus. 

Scientists believe that there is no safe level of asbestos exposure. However, researchers are still struggling to understand the sheer scale of asbestos’s dangers. While asbestos exposure is a definite, indisputable risk factor for mesothelioma and lung cancer, it likely impacts the body in other ways. 

Asbestos and the Categories of Lymphoma

However, lymphoma is typically categorized as either: 

• Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Sometimes called Hodgkin’s Disease, this lymphoma begins when special white blood cells called lymphocytes multiply uncontrollably, causing swollen lymph nodes and growths throughout the entire body. 

• Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma 

Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is a term is used to refer to all other lymphatic cancers. Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are differentiated only by the presence of an abnormal cell called a Reed-Sternberg cell. When this cell is present, the lymphoma is classified as Hodgkin’s. Conversely, when it is absent, it is classified as non-Hodgkin’s. Despite the apparent similarities between the two diseases, they have very different courses, treatment methods, and outcomes. 

Scientists know that lymphomas relate to genetic mutations in lymphocytes. However, researchers have yet to determine what causes lymphocytes to mutate and multiply uncontrollably. In all probability, environmental and biological risk factors increase an individual’s lifetime likelihood of developing lymphatic cancer. 

Asbestos Workers Could Still Receive Compensation for Lymphoma-Related Claims

Between the end of the Second World War and the EPA’s wide-ranging asbestos bans in the late 1970s and 1980s, an estimated 30 million American workers were exposed to asbestos on the job; an additional 100 million people may have suffered occupational exposures. 

While scientists have yet to demonstrate a definite link between asbestos and lymphoma, courts across the country have at least tentatively accepted the possibility of a causal relationship. In 2014, for instance, an Ohio appellate court ruled on behalf of a former Ford Motor Co. employee who claimed that he developed both asbestosis and Hodgkin’s lymphoma after being exposed to asbestos at work. 

The Asbestos-Lymphoma Link and Ford Motor Co.

Ford tried to have the claim dismissed, arguing that there is little compelling evidence to suggest that the plaintiff’s lymphoma was caused by occupational asbestos exposure. However, the court cited a state Supreme Court precedent indicating that scientific opinions need not enjoy “general acceptance” to be deemed plausible by a jury, so long as the opinion is based on a sound methodology. 

Ultimately, the appellate court ruled against Ford, ordering the company to pay the plaintiff’s worker’s compensation claim and legal fees.