Understanding Asbestos

Lung cancer is the fastest growing cancer in the world. In the USA we have seen many cases of asbestos that are simply destroying entire families. Not only in states with a huge history in the construction industry, have show thousands of cases of asbestos victims, but over the last 15 years, mortality from lung cancer has more than tripled.

One of the most dramatic and serious problems with lung cancer is the most common and take 15 to 20 years to develop after exposure. Asbestosis, or scarring of the lung tissue, also takes 15 to 20 years to appear. This means that when asbestos starts to reveals it’s presence the people responsible of the damages based on asbestos may be already out of business or not even alive.

Althoug many companies are already aware of the dangers of asbestos, removing asbestos from older buildings is a difficult, dangerous and expensive process, and clearly not a job for amateurs. There is good reason for all these precautions. Removing asbestos from public buildings must be done by a licensed contractor who is registered with the state. Obviously this sort of rules and conditions in the law, change of each states in the USA.

So why do we still have buildings with asbestos?

Well, the main reason is that depending on the extent of the work, removing or abating asbestos in a public building can run into hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, a very, very expensive kind of work for any company to afford.

In all the parts of the US, building owners are required to perform in-depth surveys of their property and report to the construction inspectors. If asbestos qualifies for removal, the building owner must contact and hire an authorized asbestos removal company, which will take care of this dangerous quemical, including removing it, transporting it and destoying it. In many cases if buildings are going to be destroyed, there are not allowed to to be demolished if there is friable asbestos present. Also, any sort of schools or educational center are required by AHERA, the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, to be inspected and have a management plan prepared, which is to be maintained and available for public inspection.

Now the interesting thing is how health experts are so keen in having different points regarding asbestos.. According to an university research , 2.3 of every 98,000 people living in buildings made from cement containing asbestos are liable to develop lung cancer. And it has been proved that health damage due to exposure to asbestos will certainly increase rapidly in the coming months and years. Healthcare maintenance workers and engineers can be unknowingly exposed to asbestos from many possible areas and sources. Engineers can be exposed while working in furnace rooms where boilers are insulated with asbestos, or when making repairs to old piping or doing minor renovations.

Asbestos is commonly found in ultramafic rock, including serpentine, and near fault zones. The amount of asbestos that is typically present in these rocks can be usually less than 1. So how really asbestos arrives to our lungs? Well, asbestos fibers can be released into the air when asbestos materials are destroyed. Objects with asbestos that remain in one piece represent little or no risk for our health.