Asbestos Exposure - New Concerns

INDEX...HOME Good Sites

There are new concerns that second-hand exposure to asbestos might lead to the development of mesothelioma. Approximately 2,000 cases of mesothelioma-related cancers are diagnosed in the U.S. each year. Of these cases, only 70% to 80% of those diagnosed have a work history where direct exposure to asbestos-laden products was used. The remaining 20% to 30% have had no first-hand documented exposure to asbestos.

It was recently reported that a St. Louis woman died five months after the death of her husband, who was diagnosed with mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos particles during his work tenure as a pipe insulator. The husband died in March of 1999. Five moths later, after spending time caring for her bed-ridden husband, his wife died of mesothelioma cancer. She had no work history that would have indicated first-hand occupational exposure. The couple had been married 53-years before their deaths.

It is thought that the wife came into second-hand contact with asbestos through her husband’s work clothes. Under a microscope, asbestos particles have ends that resemble a hook or barb. Particles can attach to clothing and can be carried away from the site of exposure as they lodge in the fibers of fabric. The explanation of the wife’s death can be traced to time spend laundering her husband’s clothing, disturbing the fabric of his work clothes and sending deadly asbestos particles into the air. Although the asbestos particles can become dislodged from clothing, once embedded in the lung tissues, there is no way to remove them and, over time, particles can cause scaring which eventually lead to mesothelioma tumors.

The average life expectancy of a mesothelioma suffer is 6 to 12 months after diagnosis. There is no known cure for mesothelioma and treatment for the disease only hopes at slowing down the progression of the illness.