Short Answer: Yes. Asbestos fibers cause several kinds of cancer, not just mesothelioma. Inhaled asbestos fibers often cause lung disease. Swallowed asbestos fibers often cause throat cancer. These microscopic particles are odorless, tasteless, colorless, and completely undetectable. These fibers increase th reproduction of free radicals in the body. Although it’s still subject to debate, the amphibole hypothesis has been proven by science.

Asbestos is known to cause a variety of cancers, including throat cancer (laryngeal and pharyngeal), lung cancer, stomach cancer, ovarian cancer, and mesothelioma.

Likewise, workers who handled asbestos-laced insulation and other such products aren’t the only at-risk victims. Slightly-heavier-than-air amphibole asbestos particles usually float for at least seventy-two hours before they land on a person or thing. Additionally, natural disasters, like hurricanes and floods, sweep these fibers over broad areas. So, an asbestos exposure victim could be many miles away from the source.

A tiny amount of exposure to amphibole fibers could cause cancer, like throat cancer, as well as other serious illnesses. Industry insiders covered up the link between asbestos and illness for decades, but now the connection is public record. Therefore, an asbestos exposure lawyer can obtain substantial compensation for these victims in court. Along with large punitive damages, this compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.

Classifying and Treating Throat Cancer

We speak to express ourselves and breathe to stay alive. Throat cancer compromises one, or both, of these vital functions. Doctors classify throat cancer according to its origin point:

  • Nasopharyngeal cancer begins behind the nose,
  • Oropharyngeal cancer is often localized to the area around the tonsils,
  • Hypopharyngeal cancer (laryngopharyngeal cancer) begins near the esophagus and windpipe, near the hypopharynx (laryngopharynx),
  • Glottic cancer affects the vocal cords, and
  • Supraglottic cancer begins in the upper portion of the voice box and includes cancer that affects the epiglottis (cartilage that blocks food from going into the windpipe).

Some kinds of throat cancer are more aggressive than others. The good news is that if the cancer is aggressive, symptoms such as coughing, voice changes, weight changes, and difficulty swallowing usually appear earlier. The bad news is that, by the time doctors begin treatment, aggressive cancers are often almost untreatable.

Asbestos exposure is a risk factor for throat cancer.

People can control some throat cancer risk factors, such as smoking, drinking, and human papillomavirus infections. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease.

Asbestos exposure is an X factor. Asbestos was widely used in many forms before 1980. Because the industrial community hid the risks of asbestos exposure, the scientific community couldn’t properly research the issue. Major advances, such as the free radical connection, are recent breakthroughs.

Asbestos Exposure and Cancer

When people have lifestyle or genetic throat cancer risk factors, doctors keep a close eye on the situation. Environmental and occupational cancers are different. These kinds of cancer usually strike like a thief in the night. 

The extremely long asbestos cancer latency period, which is usually between thirty and forty years, contributes to the diagnosis difficulty. If Sam’s only risk factor was a brief stint as an asbestos miner in the early 2000s, if he shows illness symptoms in the 2030s, neither he nor his doctor will probably connect the dots.

Furthermore, almost anyone could be an asbestos exposure victim, as mentioned above. Specific at-risk individuals include:

  • Military Veterans: Before 1980, military veterans lived in barracks and worked in buildings lined with asbestos. Most ordinance and equipment, especially ships, were laced with asbestos as well. Many asbestos-laced products were in use until the end of the Cold War and beyond.
  • Construction Workers: Original plans for the World Trade Center towers called for 5,000 tons of asbestos. Builders planned to use amphibole (blue) asbestos, the “safe” kind. However, this material is anything but safe, as outlined above. Residential and commercial construction workers used asbestos in drywall, floor tiles, insulation, and many other places.
  • Ambient Mine Exposure: Much asbestos use stopped around 1980. Asbestos mining was legal in America until 2002. Many of these mines had little or no quality control practices. Therefore, stray asbestos fibers floated out of the mine and infected people who lived nearby.
  • Take-Home Exposure: Housewives are a special category of ambient exposure victims. Women who washed clothes and handled other such chores ame into close contact with stray asbestos fibers. Due to the lack of an occupational link, doctors are just now connecting cancer in women to asbestos exposure.

If you fall into any of these categories, ask your doctor about asbestos exposure disease testing. Your doctor will most likely put you off. Asbestos tests are expensive. So, you’ll probably have to ask more than once.

Thes different victims have different legal options. These options usually have some very big pros and cons, which an asbestos exposure lawyer can review and evaluate. More on that below.

The same diseases, like cancer, affect all these victims. Asbestos also causes serious lung diseases, like asbestosis. As asbestos fibers gradually burn lung tissue, breathing becomes harder and harder.

We close this post with a brief review of the legal options available to asbestos exposure victims. Bear in mind that no blog can substitute for specific, professional advice from an asbestos exposure lawyer.

  • Ocupacional: Most people who were exposed to asbestos at work file workers’ compensation or civil claims. Workers’ compensation claims are no-fault matters (the degree of the victim’s fault, if any, is irrelevant). Additional compensation is usually available if an asbestos exposure lawyer proves negligence, or a lack of care, in civil court.
  • Discapacidad del VA: Generally, VA disability is the exclusive remedy for service-related asbestos exposure illnesses. The amount of monthly cash compensation usually depends on the degree of disability (10 percent, 20 percent, and so on). VA disability benefits also include free medical care at VA hospitals.
  • Ambient: Courts have consistently held that employers have no duty to project non-employees. Therefore, ambient exposure victims generally file civil claims against the product manufacturer or the property owner.

All victims may be eligible to file bankruptcy victim compensation fund claims. Bankruptcy VCF claims resemble workers’ compensation in many respects, except there’s no lawyer on the other side.