What are the health risks of asbestos?
Asbestos poses health risks only when fibers are present in the air that people breathe. How exposure to asbestos can affect you depends on: • The concentration of asbestos fibers in the air; • How long the exposure lasted; • The size of the asbestos fibers inhaled; and/or • The amount of time since the initial exposure. When inhaled in high quantities, asbestos fibers can cause Asbestosis (a scarring of the lungs which makes breathing difficult), Mesothelioma (a rare cancer of the lining of the chest or abdominal cavity) and Lung Cancer. Smoking, combined with inhaled asbestos, greatly increases the risk of lung cancer.
