Short Answer: Unfortunately, yes.

Asbestos-related diseases have what scientists call a ‘dose response’, meaning the more asbestos you are exposed to, the higher your risk for asbestos health problems.  

But health researchers (including the National Cancer Institute) also all state that there is no safe level of asbestos exposure. In addition, the American Lung Association notes that once you inhale them, some asbestos fibers never leave.

Asbestos diseases can take 20-50 years to appear, but once the fibers are inside you, the damage begins, and over a long period of time, even a small amount of exposure can be harmful.

Many people were exposed to asbestos-covered work clothes by a parent or spouse who worked around asbestos. Before the mid-1980s, workers were rarely given sufficient protection and methods to remove all the asbestos they were exposed to. Sometimes they had no protection at all. Spouses and others who washed the work clothes or spent time around theenm in enclosed spaces – like laundry rooms and garages – may have been exposed to asbestos.

That’s why if you may have been exposed to asbestos – on the job, or exposed second-hand by a spouse, parent or household member, it’s a good idea to speak to your healthcare provider to discuss screening and diagnosing asbestos lung-scarring and asbestos diseases.

A simple lung x-ray could save your life. 










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If you may have been exposed to asbestos, speak with your healthcare provider about tests and screening to help detect the presence of asbestos fibers and asbestos-related diseases.






















The reason asbestos is banned in 69 countries









Historically, asbestos was the most sought-after mineral by a variety of industries for the very many excellent properties of anti-corrosiveness, high tensile strength, wear and friction characteristics, flexibility, heat stability, thermal, electrical and acoustic insulation, absorption capacity, and resistance to chemical, biological, and thermal degradation. 





During the 1900s, using its unique properties, asbestos was used to make over 3,000 products known as asbestos containing materials (ACM). Unfortunately, various countries undertook a variety of research to examine if asbestos was causing health problems for people exposed to asbestos and they found it did contribute to causing health problems. 





Health research showing the dangers of any asbestos exposure





The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) has said that based on extensive epidemiological research on asbestos, there are well-established associations between asbestos exposure, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. However, it says that the epidemiological evidence for other cancer sites is less extensive than it is for lung cancer and mesothelioma, but is still considerable for some.





Based on these revelations and to protect people from asbestos exposure and prevent asbestos-related diseases (asbestos-related disease), international Conventions and codes of practice aim to help countries regulate the use of asbestos and asbestos-containing products. 





A public health problem: global regulation and bans on asbestos 





Adopting the international Conventions means the high degree of consensus that has been reached among Member States of organizations, such as the UN and WHO. It is up to the individual Member States to decide whether or not they can ratify a Convention. Once a country ratifies an international Convention, it should then implement corresponding laws to ensure consistency with that Convention.





As of October 28, 2022, 69 countries have banned the use of asbestos in their countries.





Banning asbestos definitely is a step in the right direction to prevent exposure to asbestos and minimize asbestos-related diseases.





















No Safe Level of Asbestos Exposure









According to theNational Cancer Institute, there is no safe level of asbestos exposure. It is highly likely that almost all people are exposed to asbestos sometime or the other during their lifetime. This is because asbestos mineral is made up of a large number of asbestos fibers, which are microscopic, meaning they are not visible to the naked eye. 





Further, some form of asbestos is also friable, which indicates that asbestos can be crumbled or crushed into dust. These asbestos fibers and dust easily float in the air and become the source of asbestos exposure for people.





Professor Seaton at the University of Aberdeen conducted post-mortem studies to find that 60% of people in the UK had asbestos fibers in their lungs at the time of death. The professor also found that 100% of people from large cities in the UK had asbestos fibers in their lungs at death and the cause of deaths was not asbestos exposure.





Thus, it is clear that no one can really escape being exposed to asbestos entirely.





Primary Asbestos Exposure / Second-Hand Asbestos Exposure





Asbestos exposure is of two types – primary exposure or direct asbestos exposure and secondary exposure or second-hand asbestos exposure. Primary exposure refers to people exposed to asbestos in their workplace predominantly. These people are the ones working in asbestos mines, working in downstream activities of transportation and the related activities of loading and unloading. 





Similarly, the people who receive the asbestos and redistribute them are also subject to primary exposure. Further, people who handle asbestos when making ACM products are also those who suffer the consequences of primary exposure. 





The family’s exposure to asbestos from industrial work clothes





These people who are subject to primary exposure become the source of secondary exposure to people who come into contact with them. Obviously, the family members of such people belong to this category as are other people within the social circle of the ones exposed to asbestos primarily.





The homes of people with primary exposure to asbestos become a source of secondary asbestos exposure in the form of clothing and footwear worn by the primarily exposed worker, which may contain asbestos fibers and dust that can be released into the air. Even the worker’s vehicle could also be contaminated with asbestos fibers and dust. 





There is evidence to show that a person who launders the worker’s clothes frequently is more at risk than others. 













       
        
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Image Asbestos Dangerous article body













Asbestos and Health









Asbestos is fibrous and friable and these characteristics are the ones that are responsible for many of the health problems to people who are either exposed primarily or secondarily. 





Asbestos when used in ACM products does not pose any problems as long as the products are in good condition. However, when these ACM products are damaged and the asbestos from the ACM products gets released into the air, it poses a risk to people who either inhale them or even swallow them to cause asbestos-related diseases. 





Asbestos fibers are microscopic, and have no taste or smell. You may not know when you’re breathing them.





When people inhale or swallow asbestos fibers or dust, they do so without their knowledge because these fibers and dust are microscopic. These asbestos fibers and dust get trapped in the lungs and stay there for a long time. This causes scarring and inflammation leading to asbestos-related diseases, including mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer and asbestosis, a non-cancerous asbestos-related disease.





Although it is said that everyone could suffer from primary or secondary exposure to asbestos, it does not mean that everyone will get asbestos-related diseases. However, people who are more exposed than others or repeatedly exposed are at higher risk of acquiring asbestos-related diseases due to a phenomenon known as the dose-response phenomenon. Similarly, people who smoke and have some exposure to asbestos run a far higher risk of acquiring asbestos-related diseases as are people with comorbidities. 





The latency of asbestos damage: people exposed as children can develop asbestos disease later in life





Another facet of asbestos exposure is the one of latency phenomenon. asbestos-related diseases arrive without showing any symptoms. They also manifest quite late in life. There have been cases of asbestos-related diseases that have appeared as late as 50 years after exposure, by which time it is quite late for medical intervention.





















Can Minor Occasional second-hand Asbestos Exposure be Dangerous?









Short-term asbestos exposure generally refers to either a brief, one-time asbestos exposure or multiple exposure incidents occurring over a few days.





From the foregoing, it is clear that any form of asbestos exposure is dangerous, even an occasional second-hand asbestos exposure.





However, constant exposure to second-hand asbestos or short-term direct exposure to a cloud of asbestos fibers and dust that accompany natural disasters likehurricanes and earthquakes or manmade disasters like the 9/11 event is definitely riskier than an occasional second-hand asbestos exposure.





Children staying with a parent who is a primary asbestos worker may be routinely exposed (second-hand). 





If this child’s friend comes occasionally to this house, the friend could qualify to be exposed to second-hand asbestos exposure. Between the child and the friend, the child would face more risk of acquiring an asbestos-related disease than the friend does. 





According to an estimate by EWG Action Fund/Asbestos Nation, from 1999 to 2017 an estimated 236,981 to 277,654 Americans died from asbestos exposure. Roughly, 12,000 to 15,000 Americans die every year from asbestos-related diseases even now. 





When you juxtapose these estimates with Professor Seaton’s averment on presence of asbestos fibers in everyone’s lungs, it can be reasonably assumed that an occasional exposure to second-hand asbestos poses the lowest risk of acquiring asbestos-related diseases. 





















AsbestosClaims.Law









For Justinian C. Lane, getting compensation for asbestos victims is personal.





Justinian’s grandparents and his father all worked with asbestos in their younger years and died from asbestos-related cancers in their later years.  





At the time of each of their deaths, no one in Justinian’s family knew that they were eligible to file an asbestos lawsuit and to seek compensation from the asbestos trusts.





Because no one in Justinian’s family knew their options, they never received any compensation for the death of their loved ones. 





If you believe that you or your family member’s injury was related to asbestos exposure, you could be entitled to significant compensation.





This is money you could use to cover the costs of asbestos removal services, pay for medical treatment, and preemptively protect your physical well-being. 





There are also asbestos trusts that offer compensation much more quickly and easily (without filing a lawsuit.)





If you’d like help with filing a claim, please get in touch by email at [email protected], or call or text us at (833) 4-ASBESTOS (427-2378) or (206) 455-9190. We’ll listen to your story and explain your options. And we never charge for anything unless you receive money in your pocket.





In addition to legal claims, veterans disability, social security and employment protection like workers compensation, FELA and The Jones Act for maritime workers, there are asbestos trusts that have been set up to compensate those harmed by asbestos without having to file a lawsuit.





There is no risk or cost to speak with one of our staff about your asbestos litigation. There are no fees unless you receive money.





If you have any additional questions or concerns related to asbestos, check out our website and YouTube page for videos, infographics and answers to your questions about asbestos, including health and safety, asbestos testing, removing asbestos from your home and building, and legal information about compensation for asbestos injuries.





Introducing the largest database of asbestos information on the planet.





W.A.R.D., which stands for the Worldwide Asbestos Research Database, helps clients to narrow down when and where they may have been exposed, as well as which products may still contain asbestos. W.A.R.D. will also help indicate compensation types and how much a person may be entitled to.



















https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK304374/#:~:text=Asbestos%20fibres%20tend%20to%20possess,and%2C%20resistance%20to%20chemical%2C%20thermal



https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(19)30109-3/fulltext#:~:text=Globally%2C%20more%20than%2060%20countries,available%20for%20cross%2Dcountry%20comparison




https://www.fs.usda.gov/eng/toolbox/haz/haz07b.htm#:~:text=Something%20is%20an%20ACM%20if,it’s%20considered%20non%2Dfriable%20ACM




http://www.ibasecretariat.org/alpha_ban_list.php



https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/asbestos/asbestos-fact-sheet




https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08958378.2017.1418940




https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/breathe-single-asbestos-fibre-wont-kill-you-roger-willey/




https://www.asbestos.com/exposure/#:~:text=Asbestos%20exposure%20can%20occur%20if,sites%20or%20natural%20asbestos%20deposits



https://www.asbestos.com/exposure/secondary/#:~:text=Secondary%20exposure%2C%20also%20known%20as,decades%20for%20mesothelioma%20to%20develop




https://www.asbestosclaims.law/asbestos-claims-mesothelioma-claims/mesothelioma-cancer-claims/?highlight=mesothelioma





https://www.asbestosclaims.law/asbestos-claims-mesothelioma-claims/claims-for-asbestosis/?highlight=asbestosis




http://www.worker-health.org/asbestosreldisease.html




https://www.asbestosnation.org/facts/asbestos-deaths/




https://www.asbestosclaims.law/asbestos-blog/second-hand-asbestos-exposure-a-hidden-danger/




https://www.asbestosclaims.law/asbestos-blog/what-is-second-hand-asbestos-exposure-and-is-it-dangerous/


https://www.asbestos.com/exposure/short-term/#:~:text=Can%20short%2Dterm%20asbestos%20exposure,term%20exposure%20is%20very%20low



https://www.asbestos.com/asbestos/natural-disasters/


https://www.asbestos.com/world-trade-center/