ASBESTOS DANGERS

The dangers of asbestos cannot be over-emphasised, which is why there is so much asbestos related legislation.

The first case of asbestos disease, which later became known as Asbestosis, was recorded in 1899, though it wasn't until the 1930's when the UK government began to take more notice of the fact that people working within the asbestos industry were becoming ill and dying.

Asbestosis was common among asbestos workers, those involved with it's manufacture and those who worked with installing the material.

Asbestosis starts when the fibres are inhaled into the lungs. The fibres are sharp, resembling fishing hooks that lodge into the lung tissue where they can remain dormant for up to 60 years.

The fibres are microscopic and cannot be seen with the human eye and it's unlikely that asbestos in the lungs would show up on a normal X-ray, but they do show up on CT Scans. They are called Pleural Plaques.

The disease begins to take hold when the lung tissue scars and hardens over the pleural plaques and thicken the lung tissue considerably.

This reduces elasticity in the lungs, slowly suffocating the patient to death in the most agonising way imaginable.

Although nobody knows for certain, it is generally accepted that relatively high exposure to asbestos fibres and dust is required to induce asbestosis.

However, There Is A Bigger Risk.

A specific type of cancer called Mesothelioma is known to be caused by Asbestos and this is something that concerns us all.

One fibre is thought to be enough to trigger the cancer.

At present, asbestos is responsible for approximately 3000 deaths per year, but this figure is predicted to increase to more than 10,000 deaths per year in the next few years alone.

This is a picture of a lung affected by Mesothelioma. We know it's not pretty, but it's real and it's happening to people now. The tumors grow to the point where there is virtually no lung tissue left at all, causing an agonising death - usually within 6-12 months of onset of the disease. Unlike Asbestosis, Mesothelioma can occur quickly after exposure.

The original victims of asbestos related diseases were those who worked closely with asbestos - in the ship, train building or insulation & lagging industries.

The next wave of mesothelioma victims are people whose only exposure to asbestos may have been to work or live in a building that had previously installed asbestos fireproofing or insulation present, or to have carried out work in buildings containing asbestos.

Construction trades people such as electricians, plumbers and even computer cablers are now being diagnosed with this particularly virulent form of cancer.

Their only exposure might have been drilling through Asbestos Insulation Board in order to run wires or pipes from one office to another.

This may seem a little hard to belive, but when you consider that one cubic inch of asbestos contains 15million miles of asbestos fibre, then you get some idea of the scope of the problem.

Drilling or otherwise damaging asbestos insulation board releases tens of millions of microscopic fibres into the air instantly.

Those fibres remain in the environment for people to breathe. It's a silent killer.

Many of the people now affected have no idea how they caught this dreadful disease. There is no cure.

That is the reason for the Control of  Asbestos Regulations.

It comes down to protecting employees and workers in your premises.

The cost of testing suspecting materials is extremely low. If in doubt, test.

We will be pleased to advise on any aspect of asbestos testing and can arrange for a full asbestos survey to put your mind at rest.