Asbestos Exposure ‐ its Related Disorders

Abstract

Unlike most other inhaled dusts, asbestos can produce at least three distinct diseases: asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma of the pleura and peritoneum. Workers with asbestosis are at greater risk of developing lung cancer than their healthy contemporaries and some studies have suggested that asbestos exposure without asbestosis increases the risk of lung cancer. Mesothelioma of the pleura and peritoneum is a rare tumour but it has been found with ever‐increasing frequency in persons exposed to relatively small amounts of asbestos; the latent period between exposure to asbestos dust and development of the tumour usually exceeds 20 years.