Center for Asbestos Safety in the Workplace

Occupational Lung Diseases

Occupational lung diseases are a major public health problem. They include:

• Silicosis - caused by exposure to silica. Often appears in workers near rock drilling, quarrying, and rock or mineral grinding.
• Pneumoconiosis - black lung disease - caused by exposure to coal dust
• Agricultural fibrosis - workers exposed to raw cotton dust and sugercane often develop respitory problems, sometimes referred to as "brown lung" disease.
• Asbestosis and Mesothelioma - caused by exposure to asbestos fibers.

Medical experts have shown that asbestos exposure causes serious illnesses, including:

• asbestosis - a chronic lung ailment
• lung cancer
• other random cancers such as cancer of the larynx
• mesothelioma

Millions of American workers were exposed to asbestos dust, including many of the more than 4 million workers in the shipyards in the peak years of World War II production.

While risk to workers increases with heavier and longer exposure to asbestos, it has been shown that even short periods of exposure can lead to mesothelioma.

The respitory effects of asbestos exposure are irreversible. It is not completely understood why asbestos produces such damaging effects, but it is clear that asbestos is a major health hazard, and its detrimental health effect have been known for years. Indeed, many researchers feel that almost all cases of mesothelioma are due to asbestos exposure. Cigarette cancer does not appear to contribute to this type of cancer.

Often a period of 20 years or more elapses between asbestos exposure and development of mesothelioma.

With today's workplace safety regulations, the risk of exposure is substantially less. However, mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases continue to crop up as a result of past exposure.

One of the very properties that made asbestos a prized building material - its durability - contributes to its detrimental health effects. Asbestos fibers are hardy and tend to stay in the body's tissues indefinitely.

If you or a loved one has been exposed to asbestos, click here.