Asbestos Related Diseases: What to Tell Your Doctor

Understanding all the potential sources of asbestos exposure

While most Americans know that former asbestos workers now face the highest risk of developing asbestos-related health conditions, asbestos exposure occurs through a variety of routes. The most common types of asbestos exposure include, but are not limited to, the following: 

Exposición Ocupacional al Asbesto 

Occupational asbestos exposure, or primary asbestos exposure, is asbestos exposure that occurred within the workplace. 

Today, most asbestos-related diagnoses are reported among people who worked with or around asbestos. High-risk groups include military veterans, factory employees, and construction workers. 

“Todas las formas de asbesto son cancerígenas para los humanos”. ¹

Although reported rates of asbestos-related illnesses have begun declining, researchers believe that an estimated 1.3 million Americans are still exposed to asbestos in their workplaces. 

Varios estudios de salud han demostrado que los cónyuges de los trabajadores del amianto tienen un nivel elevado de riesgo de sufrir enfermedades relacionadas con el amianto, como el cáncer de pulmón.^{2 3 4 5}

Exposición Secundaria al Asbesto

Secondary asbestos exposure, or take-home asbestos exposure, is asbestos exposure that occurs among people who never worked with asbestos. 

Before the dangers of asbestos exposure became a matter of common knowledge, asbestos workers would often return home covered in asbestos dust and asbestos fiber. Since most of these workers did not know that asbestos was associated with serious medical conditions, they did not usually shower or remove their work clothes before returning home. 

Compartir una casa o un vehículo con alguien que usa ropa contaminada con asbesto lo pone en riesgo de contraer enfermedades relacionadas con el asbesto.3 ⁶

Secondary asbestos exposure is still asbestos exposure.

However, asbestos fiber—which has a characteristic rough texture and jagged features—could easily “follow” workers home. It spread inside cars, onto furniture, and inside laundry machines. Over the course of days, months, and years, asbestos workers’ entire families could be exposed to significant concentrations of carcinogenic asbestos fiber, placing entire households at-risk. 

Las personas que trabajaron en estas industrias antes de mediados de la década de 1980 tienen un mayor riesgo de desarrollar enfermedades relacionadas con el asbesto:

Construcción	Fábricas	Fundiciones	Refinerías	Astilleros	Minería / Molienda
Demolición	Aislamiento	Trabajadores del acero	Instalación de tuberías	Construcción naval	Mecánicos
Techumbre	Textiles	Trabajadores del hierro	Calderas	Extinción de incendios	Reparación de frenos
Piso	Cemento	Electricistas	Reparación de juntas	Ferrocarril	Climatización

Desafortunadamente también lo hacen sus familias.

Exposición al asbesto ambiental

Environmental asbestos exposure could occur if asbestos is present in water, soil, or air. 

Under most circumstances, naturally-occurring asbestos poses little—if any—risk to people living nearby. However, commercial activity can sometimes scatter aerosolized asbestos into the environment.

Some former “asbestos cities,” like Libby, Montana, have reported higher-than-average rates of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related conditions.

El asbesto no tiene sabor ni olor.

Es posible que no sepa que lo está respirando.

While many of these diagnoses can be attributed to occupational asbestos exposure or take-home asbestos exposure, the intensity of asbestos mining and milling operations in communities like Libby led to the formation of massive “asbestos clouds,” which injured people who had no direct connection with the local asbestos industry.

Talking to Your Doctor About Asbestos Exposure 

Asbestos has been linked with a wide and worrying range of medical conditions, including, but not limited to: 

• La Asbestosis 
• Cáncer, including cancer of the lungs, cancer of the stomach, and cancer of the ovaries 
• Chronic pulmonary obstructive disease (COPD) 
• Mesotelioma 
• Enfermedad pleural 

Since most asbestos-related illnesses have long latency periods, many people who are diagnosed with conditions like mesothelioma have long since left the workforce. They may not remember that they worked with asbestos-containing materials, or they might not realize that a minor respiratory complaint could be indicative of a more enfermedades malignas. 

While incidental asbestos exposure is unlikely to lead to long-term health complications, scientists believe that ninguna cantidad de exposición al asbesto es segura. People who lived with former asbestos workers, or who live in asbestos-contaminated houses, could also be at elevated risk for diseases like mesothelioma. 

If you believe that you may be exhibiting the symptoms of an asbestos-related medical condition, seek immediate medical attention. Under most circumstances, physicians are best-equipped to combat malignant diseases before they progress and, potentially, spread to other parts of the body.

Legal options for people with asbestos-related diseases

Many people with asbestos injuries can receive money without a lawsuit.

This can help cover medical and ongoing treatment costs, lost wages, and the pain and debilitated quality of life from asbestos-related scarring and disease. 

Courts across the country have long since recognized that the asbestos industry was negligent in its policies and practices. Even after asbestos companies were confronted with evidence that their products were killing American workers, they refused to warn the public, silently paying off scientists, legislators, and victims. 

If you, or a loved one, have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, you could be entitled to significant compensation through a personal injury lawsuit, insurance settlement, or asbestos trust claim.