What kinds of health effects do Asbestos cause?
When asbestos is undisturbed, it poses little danger. However, when asbestos is disturbed (by grinding, sanding, cutting, scraping, etc.) it releases millions of microscopic fibers into the air. These fibers, much smaller than the width of a human hair, can become easily inhaled by people around them. Once inhaled, asbestos fibers can lodge themselves inside the respiratory tract and can cause serious health issues later on. Asbestos-related diseases such as lung cancer and mesothelioma (a rare, but always fatal disease of the lung lining) have a latency period and usually do not appear until 10 to 40 years after exposure. Smoking often amplifies the negative effects of asbestos, and increases the probability of contracting asbestos related health issues by a large factor.
