What Make Asbestos Dangerous?
Asbestos is a dangerous material because it is comprised of small toxic fibers that one can inhale or ingest when these fibers become airborne. This often results in a deadly form of lung cancer known as mesothelioma. Mesothelioma has adverse affects on the lining of the lungs and is linked exclusively to asbestos exposure. Because mesothelioma can seem to lie dormant for nearly 30 years, a person who has mesothelioma may not know they have this disease if they go by the symptoms alone. Mesothelioma is especially deadly because the treatments often do very little to slow the growth of the cancer. In its early stages, mesothelioma often resembles the flu or pneumonia. As a result, it becomes extremely difficult to diagnose, leading to a dramatically high mortality rate. Approximately 2,000 people a year are diagnosed with mesothelioma, and less than 50% of them survive more than two years after being diagnosed.
