Asbestos is a term for a group of minerals made of microscopic fibres. If you breathe in these fibres, they can damage your lungs.
There are 4 main diseases associated with breathing in asbestos fibres:
non-malignant pleural disease (diffuse pleural thickening and pleural plaques)
asbestosis - a non-malignant scarring of the lung tissue
asbestos-related lung cancer
mesothelioma - a form of cancer mainly affecting the lining of the lungs
What is asbestos?
Asbestos is a term for a group of minerals made of microscopic fibres. Before its dangers were known, asbestos was often used in buildings for insulation, flooring and roofing and sprayed on ceilings and walls. It is now banned in the UK. Buildings constructed before the year 2000 may still have asbestos in them. If the asbestos-containing materials inside these buildings remain intact, they pose very little risk.
It’s only when these materials are damaged or disturbed that tiny asbestos fibres can be released into the air and breathed into your lungs.
The symptoms of asbestos-related disease take many years – even decades – to appear after the original exposure to asbestos, so exposure a long time ago might only be showing up as a disease today.
Who is most at risk?
You are at higher risk of damage to your lungs if you’ve been exposed to asbestos for a long time at work. People at higher risk are those who’ve worked as:
carpenters
plumbers
electricians
asbestos miners
painters
builders
If you’ve worked in shipbuilding, railway engineering and factories that made asbestos products, you also have a higher risk.
You might also be at risk if you have lived with a worker who was exposed to asbestos.
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