Asbestos Cancer Facts and Statistics
Authorities estimate that each year approximately 10,000 Americans die from illnesses caused by exposure to asbestos. For nearly a century, asbestos was one of the most popular materials in numerous industries and applications. Asbestos was included in thousands of construction materials, from insulations to floor tiles to caulking putty. For information about at-risk workplaces, please see Occupations at Risk for Asbestos Exposure.
Asbestos could also be found in many consumer products Americans use each day, including hair dryers, popcorn poppers, and even in talc powder. Please see Products Containing Asbestos for more information on the products that have contained asbestos. Because of the prevalence of the deadly material, millions of people have been exposed to asbestos, a fibrous, fire-resistant mineral and known carcinogen (which scientists now know is responsible for many thousands of cancer deaths in the United States).
Unfortunately, the asbestos epidemic is just approaching its peak. In the vast majority of asbestos -related illness, symptoms do not surface for many years. In the case of mesothelioma, symptoms may not arise for 20 to 50 years.
According to governmental sources, the use of asbestos is still quite problematic. In 2005, for instance, the use of asbestos in materials and products manufactured in the United States totaled more than 2,000 metric tons. Of the approximate 10,000 Americans who will die this year from asbestos-related illnesses, approximately 2,000 will succumb to lung cancer, which scientists consider the second greatest asbestos-related cancer (following mesothelioma).
It is estimated that nearly 200,000 individuals in the United States are currently living with asbestosis, a severe irritation of lung tissue, caused by the presence of asbestos particles in the lungs. On average, nearly 2,000 people die each year in the United States as the result of asbestosis. The number of people living with asbestosis is particularly significant because the presence of this condition elevates one's risk for developing other types of asbestos-related cancer, such as lung cancer.
For instance, in studies that led to what is now called the Browne Hypothesis, researchers found that in a sample of 105 deaths caused by exposure to asbestos, 18 of these deaths resulted from lung cancer, and 15 of these afflicted persons had concurrent asbestosis, leading researchers to believe that there is at least a strong correlation between the presence of asbestosis and the development of lung cancer in those exposed to asbestos fibers.
Asbestos also significantly increase one's risk of developing a buildup of pleural plaques, a buildup of calcified plaques in the lungs. This condition estimated that 3 to 58 percent of persons exposed to asbestos will have to face. According to authorities in the field of cancer research and asbestos, the development of pleural plaque increases one's risk for later developing cancer by 140 percent, a significant increase in risk.
Many of these researchers in the field believe that conditions such as asbestos-related pleural plaques and asbestosis are symbiotic with asbestos-related cancers, meaning that there is at least some correlation between the developments of the life-threatening illnesses. This does not bode well for individuals exposed to asbestos, who may, in the course of their lifetime, be forced to battle several very serious illnesses, all of which increase the likelihood that the exposed person will not survive.
Those who suspect they have been exposed to asbestos should seek the advice of a trusted cancer doctor and a knowledgeable, experienced mesothelioma lawyer, who helps victims of the asbestos industry achieve compensation to pay for the immense medical costs associated with asbestos-related diseases.
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Sources:
1. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/asbestos
2. http://www.aafp.org/afp/20070301/683.html
3. http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/content/full/115/2/3