Asbestos is an industrial mineral with fibers that can lodge in the lungs if people breathe them in, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry, or ATSDR. Over time these fibers accumulate and can cause scarring and inflammation that may lead to serious disease. People are most at risk if they are exposed to a high concentration of fibers for a long time, or are exposed often.
Asbestosis
Asbestosis occurs when asbestos fibers cause lung scarring that makes it hard to breathe, according to the ATSDR. The scarring also makes the lungs less efficient so that it is hard for them to deliver oxygen to the blood. Symptoms include shortness of breath and a crackling sound when inhaling. It can take 10 to 20 years after exposure for asbestosis to develop, but once it does it tends to get slowly but steadily worse. There is no treatment for asbestosis and it can be disabling and deadly.
Mesothelioma
Asbestos can also affect the lining of the chest cavity, outside of the lungs, according to the ATDSR. It can cause changes in the lining of the lungs, including thickening and calcifications, and it can cause fluid to build up around the lungs. It can also cause a cancer called mesothelioma that can affect the lining of the lungs, abdomen and heart. Nearly all cases of mesothelioma are linked to asbestos, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The disease afflicts not only workers with direct exposure to asbestos on the job, but the people who live with them. Mesothelioma can also affect people who live near asbestos mines, factories or shipyards because those facilities can create large quantities of airborne asbestos fibers. The younger people are when they are first exposed to asbestos, the more likely it is they will develop mesothelioma.
Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is a potentially fatal growth that obstructs the air passages in the lungs, making it difficult to breathe. Smoking dramatically increases the risk of lung cancer from asbestos exposure. One study found that people who both smoke and have been exposed to asbestos are 90 times as likely to develop lung cancer as a nonsmoker with no exposure to asbestos, reports the EPA. Symptoms of lung cancer include coughing and breathing problems. Lung cancer is treatable, but it is often fatal.
Other Cancers
While research has shown a clear link between lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, the link between asbestos and other forms of cancer is unproven, according to the ATSDR. Some research does suggest a link between gastrointestinal and colorectal cancers and asbestos but other studies have not shown a link. Researchers have also looked at cancers of the kidney, brain, larynx and bladder, but the evidence that they are caused by asbestos is weak at this time, according to ATSDR.
