Mesothelioma Causes

Mesothelioma Causes - Asbestos is highly resistant to heat and was commonly used in household items and building materials (such as interior and exterior wall sheeting and insulation). You may have had an asbestos mat that you used on your stove top to protect Pyrex coffee pots, or you may have had asbestos-lined gloves and oven mitts. Asbestos only causes problems when it's cut or disturbed in some way because this releases the tiny fibres that you can breathe in (asbestos mesothelioma). Once inside the lungs, these fibres can cause inflammation, fibrosis (scarring) and cancer. Asbestos can also be swallowed when the tiny fibres are air borne (asbestos mesothelioma)

Mesothelioma Causes from industries at Risk, When the asbestos fibers are breathed in, they travel into the nooks and crannies of the pleura where they irritate and can cause physical damage to the mesothelial cells that may result in mesothelioma cancer. The fibers can also cause damage that can result in lung cancer and asbestosis (excessive scarring of tissue on the lungs). If swallowed, the fibers can reach the abdominal cavity where they can cause peritoneal mesothelioma.

Asbestos is a group of six naturally occurring fibrous metamorphic minerals: chrysotile, tremolite, actinolite, amosite, crocidolite and anthophyllite. Of the hydrous magnesium silicate variety, asbestos has long been used for a variety of industrial and commercial purposes. Once viewed as a "miracle mineral," asbestos was commonly used as an insulator. Resistant to heat and fire and high in tensile strength, asbestos was used for insulation in buildings, automobile parts and the shipbuilding trades. Miners, harvesting the hazardous mineral on a daily basis, were most at risk of developing mesothelioma because of the amount of direct asbestos exposure they faced. Asbestos exposure is known to be responsible for a variety of health issues, including:

• Malignant mesothelioma
• Asbestos lung cancer
• Asbestosis
• Diffuse pleural thickening
• Fibrosis

Asbestos as a cause of mesothelioma was discovered in connection with occupational exposure to the mineral. Asbestos miners, factory workers, shipyard workers and construction workers were the most likely to contract the deadly disease and amongst the first victims. Mesothelioma is a latent disease that can take anywhere from 30 to 40 years to become symptomatic. A number of cases of mesothelioma were therefore reported within similar windows of time, displaying similar occupational backgrounds. Establishing the link back to asbestos (which was already linked to a number of aforementioned diseases) was a relatively simple task.