The people most likely to have been exposed to asbestos

The people most likely to have been exposed to asbestos include:

• construction workers

• plumber

• electricians

• boilermakers

• shipbuilders

• demolition workers

• people who worked in other places where asbestos was present and
  people who lived near to asbestos factories.


Family members of people who worked with asbestos and brought the dust home on their clothes have also sometimes developed mesothelioma.  

   

                    


   
   

 


  There are three types of asbestos:

blue, brown and white. Blue and brown asbestos are the types most commonly linked with mesothelioma. They are now very rarely used and cannot be imported into the UK. Originally, white asbestos was thought not to be dangerous but recent studies have now shown that it is also harmful.

In the 1980s, imports of blue and brown asbestos into the UK were stopped, and in 1999 the importation and use of all asbestos was banned. However, as mesothelioma develops so slowly, it is estimated that by 2015 approximately 3000 people will be diagnosed with mesothelioma each year. The number of people who develop mesothelioma will then start to reduce each year.

Mesothelioma does not usually develop until many years after exposure to asbestos. It can take any time from 10 to 60 years, although the average is about 30 to 40 years after exposure to asbestos. 

Occasionally, mesothelioma develops in people who have never been exposed to asbestos. The other causes of the disease are not fully understood, but in rare cases the development of mesothelioma has been linked to exposure to radiation.

Research has not found any evidence that smoking increases a person's risk of developing mesothelioma. It is also thought that exposure to other building materials such as fibreglass does not increase the risk.

Mesothelioma is not contagious and cannot be passed on to other people. It is not caused by inherited faulty genes and so family members do not have an increased risk of developing it, unless they have been in contact with asbestos.


  Materials Containing Asbestos 

Most insulation materials before the mid-1970s contained asbestos. Many other construction materials also contained asbestos. Some of the most common products were:
• Insulation on pipes 
• Boiler insulation 
• Insulating cements, plasters, and joint compounds that came in powder form and created a lot of dust before being completely mixed with water. 
• Fireproofing spray 
• Firebrick and gunnite used for internal insulation of furnaces, boilers, and other vessels 
• Roof, floor, and ceiling tiles. 
• Transite siding 
• Brakes and clutches