Unlike most cancer, mesothelioma is almost always caused by just one source: asbestos exposure. The National Cancer Institute says that up to 80% of all mesothelioma cases are caused by asbestos exposure. However additional causes of the disease are just guesses and include such exotic factors as exposure to a mineral in Turkey called Zeolite and previous infection with the Simian monkey virus. Exposure to radiation may make the development of mesothelioma more likely.
For most of the twentieth century, asbestos was heavily used in the manufacture of all types of insulation, flooring, ceiling tiles, pipe fittings, plaster, caulking, roofing, and other construction products. Any industrial facility or power plant (including naval engine rooms) that generated heat probably had pipes, tanks and other fixtures insulated with asbestos. Some sort of asbestos product was at virtually all construction job sites up to 1985 or so.
Asbestos is a fibrous material that when disturbed, emits fibers into the air which can be inhaled by any nearby worker: a miner, a construction worker, a ship’s crewman working around the ship’s pipes and boilers, plumbers, carpenters, auto mechanics, workers in the oil business, in power plants, in chemical plants – the list goes on. The list also includes family members of workers that brought home
asbestos fibers on their clothing and shoes from the job site.
Posted in: Mesothelioma
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