ASBESTOS EXPOSURE

If you suspect you have been exposed to asbestos, get tested.

I highly recommend that you consult with your primary care physician for an x-ray or CT scan referral. It has been estimated that over 30 million people have had asbestos exposure in the past 42 years. There are very small amounts of asbestos in the air we breath every day and most of us have asbestos fibers in our lungs. Construction workers, plumbers, pipe fitters, boilermakers, insulators, refractory workers, shipyard workers and others whose work brings them in contact with asbestos or asbestos containing material, risk occupational exposure by inhaling airborne asbestos fibers. There is also a risk to family members who breath asbestos fibers from the clothes of those workers.

Common symptoms of asbestos exposure are shortness of breath, coughing, chest pain, a dry crackling sound in the lungs while inhaling and weight loss. The detectable symptoms of asbestos exposure can appear as early as 15 years after exposure, and the reappear at any time during one's life. This makes it very difficult to associate one with the other and is why annual asbestos detection tests are recommended.

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