Over the past several years the media has lavished a lot of attention on asbestos. Consequently a lot of people who live in the United States believe that asbestos can be a significant cause of various diseases including cancer. And many believe that any exposure to asbestos might very well cause their death.
Asbestos occurs naturally. It’s a mineral that, until the 1970s was used extensively in the construction industry. Therefore it can be found in minute quantities in the ambient air in most urban environments. Although its use is now limited, for many decades it was used in literally thousands of products that most people came into contact with on a regular basis.
When asbestos is in good condition and is firmly secured in place it rarely poses a threat to anyone’s health. However friable asbestos can be reduced to a powder by hand pressure alone and is much more prone to fragmentation.
Under certain conditions friable asbestos can pose a threat to people’s health.
This is especially true of people that are employed in certain occupational groups which include maintenance workers, firefighters, custodians, and asbestos abatement contract employees.
Health risks ensue when asbestos has become friable and has begun to deteriorate. It also poses health risks when a building is being renovated or demolished. In these cases it will either have to be encapsulated or removed by professionals who use protective clothing and breathing apparatuses that will prevent them from breathing in or swallowing the asbestos fibers.
However, if asbestos remains intact in buildings it doesn’t appear to pose any significant health risks.
Some government officials are contemplating the massive removal of all asbestos from schools, office buildings and homes, even when it is in good condition.
If that comes to pass then even more asbestos fibers will inevitably by introduced into the environment. These “public health” measures can actually do more harm than any potential good.
In addition it would be extremely expensive to remove all of the asbestos in the millions of structures that have been built throughout the twentieth century. Asbestos removal is a very serious and expensive undertaking. And if any cost-cutting efforts were initiated then the process of removal could significantly increase any risk of disease that existed before the asbestos was removed.
The percentage of people in the United States who have an asbestos related disease is relatively small. Many of them are sick and dying because the companies they worked for put them directly into contact with asbestos, knowing full well of the adverse effects it would have on their employee’s health.
These companies can be held accountable for their actions.
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