Why is Asbestos Dangerous?

Although it wasn’t always seen as a toxic substance, asbestos is now a known toxin. It refers to a group of natural minerals that comprise lots of small fibres. These fibres are non-dissolvable in water and are resistant to heat, fire, and force. This article examines the different types of asbestos, its uses and explains why it is dangerous to humans.

What Are the Different Types of Asbestos?

The different types of asbestos are categorised into two main areas – serpentine and amphibole.

Serpentine asbestos comprises long, curly fibres, and it accounts for around 95% of total asbestos usage across the world. Chrysotile is the most widely recognised and most commonly used type of serpentine asbestos.

Amphibole asbestos is made out of fibres that are shorter and straighter than those found in serpentine asbestos. There are various types of amphibole asbestos, including actinolite, anthophyllite, amosite, crocidolite, and tremolite.

Let’s take a look at each of the different types of asbestos in more detail.

Chrysotile

Chrysotile is a white coloured serpentine asbestos often used for brake pads, clutches, and disk pads inside vehicles. It’s also popular in roofing and textiles.

Actinolite

Actinolite can be white, grey, yellow, or green, and it’s mainly used in DIY and decorative substances like sealants, fresh paints, insulation, and cement.

Anthophyllite

Used to produce commercial products, anthophyllite has yellowy brown coloured fibres. It may also be mixed into cement just like actinolite.

Amosite

Amosite asbestos has a wide range of uses and applications within various industries. It is brown in colour and used to make cement, insulation, roofing, tiles, and plumbing components.

Crocidolite

Crocidolite has a unique blue colour and is often used as a component of cement or insulation materials.

Tremolite

Tremolite can range in colour significantly, from white to dark green. It’s commonly used in textiles, insulation, sealants, and plumbing components.

Why is Asbestos Dangerous to Humans?

Nowadays, it is widely known that asbestos is dangerous to humans, but why is this the case? What makes it hazardous to humans?

The answers to these questions come back to the fact that asbestos is made out of lots of small fibres.

When these fibres are disrupted, such as when asbestos-containing products are broken down, these fibres are released into the air. If you breathe these fibres in through your nose or ingest them, it can cause damage to your lungs.

Short-term exposure to asbestos can cause your lungs to become inflamed. After long-term exposure, your lungs may become scarred, and the DNA within your cells may develop mutations due to this permanent damage, increasing your risk of developing lung cancer.

This is why you must contact a Calgary asbestos removal company if you have any asbestos in your home. Trained professionals will be able to remove the asbestos carefully to avoid releasing any of the damaging fibres into the air, thereby minimising the risk of inhalation or ingestion of these fibres and the associated health issues.

Some of the chronic health problems associated with asbestos exposure include asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma.

Asbestosis

Asbestosis is a chronic lung disease that is caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibres. It develops when the asbestos fibres cause inflammation and scarring within the lungs and leads to shortness of breath, a persistent cough, and chest pain.

Eventually, asbestosis can start to impact the lung’s compliance (the lung’s ability to expand) and your ability to breathe properly.

Lung cancer

Long-term exposure to asbestos (over the course of 10 to 15 years) can increase the risk of lung cancer by causing damage to the DNA in the cells of the lungs and increasing the chance of genetic mutations.

Lung cancer can cause the symptoms of a persistent cough, chest pain, and haemoptysis (coughing up blood or mucus that contains blood).

Because of the potentially fatal health consequences that can arise from the inhalation or ingestion of asbestos, many countries have restricted the use of all types of asbestos. Some countries have even banned its use altogether.

Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a relatively rare type of cancer that affects the mesothelium, which refers to a type of tissue that lines most of the internal organs.

The main areas of the body that are affected by mesothelioma include the pleura (the lining around the lungs), the pericardium (the outer layer of the heart), and the peritoneum (the sac around the abdominal organs).

Mesothelioma can lead to similar symptoms as asbestosis, including shortness of breath and chest pain. It may cause abdominal bloating if it affects the peritoneum.

Final thoughts about asbestos

As you can see the dangers of asbestos if you breathe these fibres in through your nose or ingest them. the result can be long term damage to your lungs. Even short-term exposure to asbestos can cause your lungs to become inflamed. but after long-term exposure, your lungs may become scarred, and the DNA within your cells may develop mutations due to this permanent damage, increasing your risk of developing lung cancer.

If you have discovered asbestos in your home, it is important to contact trained professionals to carefully remove it to avoid releasing any of the damaging fibres into the air. Professional removal of asbestos minimizes the risk of inhalation or ingestion of these fibres and the associated health issues.

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