Causes of Mesothelioma
The main contributing cause of Mesothelioma is breathing of the fibers of asbestos. While asbestos was used and discovered as a wonder mineral that is very strong and fire resistant, it has been banned in most developed countries today. This ban came about when it was discovered how dangerous working with this mineral was to employees who processed and used it.
There are three types of asbestos fibers. They are found in the form of minerals of magnesium found underground.
The three types include:
- Blue –this one, called amphibole is long and thin and is the most carcinogenic of the three.
- White—is as chrysolite asbestos.
- Brown—is an amosite. This one has been known to cause Mesothelioma in persons with only a small amount of exposure.
It is thought that the breathing in of the asbestos fibers causes the cancerous growth in the ends of the small airway and attracts the pleural lining. Accidental swallowing of the dust particles and fibers can cause the cancer to attack the Mesothelium lining in the abdominal cavities.
Working around asbestos, posed the biggest risk to employees working in the following industries:
- Construction workers and contractors.
- Firefighter--Since asbestos is fire resistant, it was easily woven into protective clothing for firefighters.
- Power Plants—Boilers and generator pipes are mostly lined with asbestos to protect them from fire in cases of extreme heat.
- Automotive mechanics—older cars had used asbestos in brake and clutch linings. These practices are banned now, in most countries.
- Railroads—Similar to cars and ships, railroads made use of asbestos in construction of the linings of brakes, clutches, gaskets and boiler room equipment.
- Miners—besides having asbestos in some of the equipment used to process the mine, some minors got double exposure when mining certain substances such as talc and vermiculite.
- Shipyards—Because of the fireproof and chemical resistance component of asbestos, it was widely used in every aspect of shipbuilding, in almost all Navy ships built before the 1970’s. It can be found in pipes, boiler rooms, and insulation.
- Steel Mills—Asbestos was used as an insulation in steel mills.
- Oil Refineries—since the discovery rate of Mesothelioma in oil refinery workers is abnormally high, it is believed that asbestos was used in many areas of the construction of refineries.
Since many of the above industries are use by the military, especially the Navy, veterans who served in World War II and the early 70’s before the dangers of asbestos were well known, is at an especially high risk for developing the deadly Mesothelioma cancer.
There are still countries, including India and China where use of asbestos has not been banned. Even in developed countries that banned its use more than 2 decades ago, they still are dealing the effects of its use and existence. Ongoing abatement reconstruction continues, on older buildings and schools, requiring special equipment, safety procedures and specialized education, to prevent workers today to suffer from the buildings made in the past.
It can take up to 40 years for the effects of exposure to rear the deadly effects in the body of men and woman who were working with asbestos. Because of this, it is an ongoing issue, and is the basis for many lawsuits against the companies who knowingly let workers continuously work in environments exposing them to these dangers.
Some lawsuits are stupid but some like mesothelioma law suits can be quit serious. Mesothelioma law firms that deal with these lawsuits are dedicated to those living with cancer.