It has been said time over again that asbestos causes health problems when you get exposed to it. What you may not know that the health conditions this material causes are various form of cancer among other non-cancerous diseases. The cancer is caused because the minute you inhale asbestos fibers, they are trapped inside your body. In most cases, they are trapped in the lungs and cannot be removed in any way without putting the person is grave danger. An x-ray scan can easily indicate the location of the asbestos fibers in the body.

After several years of being trapped in the body, the fibers start to cause cancer in the place they reside. This article will highlight some of the forms of cancer that asbestos causes the minute it is trapped in the body.

Cancers caused by asbestos

Some of the major cancers that asbestos causes are lung cancer, mesothelioma, ovarian cancer and laryngeal cancer. That is a very high number of cancers and once they occur, there is no sure way of curing them. Several studies have also indicated that there is strong correlation between several other forms of cancer and asbestos. These cancers include colon cancer and breast cancer.

You are probably wondering how breast cancer can result from asbestos. The thing is that the fibers that you inhale are microscopic and can easily move through blood vessels and end up in any part of the body such as the breasts, ovaries, and lungs. Once there, it is just a matter of time before the respective type of cancer develops. The microscopic fibers also get embedded in tissues and organ linings where they cause mutation, irritation, and cancer. The risk increases with the number of times you get exposed to asbestos.

Asbestos diseases

Besides cancers, there are several other kinds of medical conditions that are caused by asbestos. These conditions include pleural plaques, pleural thickening, and asbestosis among others. These conditions do not occur from mild exposures. You need heavy exposure where you repeatedly get exposed to small doses or a few times of high exposures in order to develop these conditions. You should however know that there is no level of exposure that can be considered as safe. You should observe safety precautions at all times to be safe.

Last words…

There are certain industries and jobs that are high-risk and working there increases your chances of developing these conditions. Some of these industries include construction, firefighting, electricity generation, mining, shipbuilding, military service, and heavy industry among others. Several major militaries around the world such as the US, UK, Germany, and France among others used military vessels built from materials that contained asbestos as a key ingredient. This exposed servicemen to a higher risk of developing asbestos-related diseases. In fact, many service men and women have died due to this problem.

This has however changed and militaries are very keen with the materials they use to build their weapons. When you need asbestos survey London has some of the finest surveyors to hire for the job.