Throughout life, some people are forced to work a certain job that allows them to put food on the table, but that job isn’t always what we want it to be. Some have to work a physical job, others are taking a completely different route that leads them to their monthly funds, but we can all pretty much agree that there’s no easy job on this planet.
In the past, there have been certain things that we didn’t know of, whether because science wasn’t developed enough, or it was exactly then when we first uncovered certain materials. Today we’re going to talk about Asbestos, a material, or a mineral to be more exact, which is used for a lot of useful things in the manufacturing industry. People use it to make stronger materials by mixing their fibers in things such as cement, plastic, cloth, and even paper. When something is so useful, you’d probably guess that a lot of people would like to get their hands on it, but is there something that we don’t know about this mineral? Find out in the content below.
Contents
What is Asbestos?
Source: taylorandscott.com.au
Asbestos can be found in mines and it’s a mineral that can make a lot of materials stronger by combining it in the mixture when creating certain items. But, there’s something that makes it very dangerous for human beings, especially those who are constantly exposed to it. Not many people knew about this in the past, or they did but they did not want to inform their workers, but Asbestos causes a very aggressive type of cancer called Mesothelioma, a condition that can quickly end the life of a healthy person in a very short time.
Those who had no other chances of securing a living were exposed to Asbestos in mines where they had to work a lot of time to gather this material. Whether they were told that it’s dangerous or not, we’re not sure, but someone had to know this, they just decided to keep it a secret. However, since today we’re working towards making our society a better place to live, there are a lot of lawyers who try to allow those workers who were exposed to Asbestos to claim their compensations, or if they’re no longer alive, help their families claim it instead. Before we continue, if you happen to be in such a scenario, and you need an Asbestos Lawyer, take a look at thelawcenter.com. Now let’s take a look at what Mesothelioma is.
What is Mesothelioma?
Source: ishn.com
As we mentioned above, Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that can only be caused when a person is exposed to this mineral for a long time, such as the workers who actively try to mine it. Asbestos is so dangerous that even when people use protective gear, they can still catch numerous diseases caused by this mineral. Some of the other Asbestos-Related Diseases currently known to men are the following ones:
- Asbestosis
- Pleuritis
- Pleural Plaques
- Diffuse Pleural Thickening
- Pleural Effusions
- A few other unknown cases of Asbestos-related diseases
As you can see, being directly exposed to Asbestos is a very dangerous thing, and it can cause some of the health-related issues that we mentioned above. All of these take a lot of time and effort to treat, and some are not curable, such as Asbestosis, especially in later stages. You should know that you don’t have to be directly exposed to the mineral to get some of the following diseases. There’s something called a “Second Hand Exposure” which means that being in contact with someone who was exposed can put you in danger as well.
An important thing to know is that the risk increases in people who are older than fifty, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot get these diseases if you’re a younger individual. There have been a lot of cases where people in their early thirties, workers who were exposed to asbestos got Pleuritis, Asbestosis, and Pleural Effusions.
Is the mineral currently banned?
Source: montreal.ctvnews.ca
Yes, Asbestos is banned in many countries, but the exposure to this mineral is still not one hundred percent regulated as there are still a lot of business owners who want to profit by sacrificing the health of their workers. We’re not sure when and where this exactly happens, but we suppose it’s in those places that are very rich with Asbestos. Locations rich with this mineral are Russia, Kazakhstan, China, and California.
If a certain product is tested and proven to contain trails of this mineral, it is usually banned from production and discontinued entirely. We’re not sure how and when this is tested, but it’s what we know at the moment. Numerous asbestos attention-awareness campaigns were successful, so we just hope that people will know about this in the future.
The US Military and exposure
Source: asbestos.com
The US Military was exposed to this mineral in large quantities back in 1930, and it lasted up until the late 1970’s when it finally got out in public that being exposed to this is extremely dangerous. US Navy ships were filled up with tanks of Asbestos and the soldiers had to be on those ships for quite a long time, eventually resulting in all of them being infected by some of the diseases, while another larger group was diagnosed with cancer.
A few studies later confirmed that even the family members of those who were exposed are a risk of catching one of the diseases due to something called a “Secondhand Exposure”. After the news got out that this mineral is very dangerous to men, numerous actions were started to isolate the places rich with this mineral and prevent people from building homes or shelters close to them.
Today, some of the factories still exist, but those that operate include a lot of machinery and minimal human-exposure. Many factories are just isolated but the mineral traces inside still exist. Many factories were closed even a decade ago when some asbestos-related catastrophes came out in public.
