If you’ve been exposed to asbestos even just once, understanding the potential health implications is crucial. While single or short-term exposures generally present less risk than the long-term, persistent kind, it doesn’t mean they’re entirely harmless. However, numerous variables impact how dangerous this exposure is. Keep reading to learn more about asbestos exposure and what steps you can take if you’re experiencing adverse side effects.
What Is Asbestos and Why Is It Dangerous?
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that has been widely used in various industries for centuries due to its fire resistance, strength, and insulating properties. Its fibers aren’t visible to the naked eye and can become airborne if disturbed.
What makes asbestos dangerous is that these microscopic fibers can be easily inhaled by those exposed, entering the lungs and potentially lodging themselves within digestive tracts.
Over time, this can lead to inflammation and scarring that progresses into diseases such as asbestosis or lung cancer, and mesothelioma.
One-Time Exposure Doesn’t Typically Cause Adverse Consequences
Instances may arise where you’re worried over a single, brief exposure to asbestos. While any contact is understandably alarming due to its harmful properties, you should know that health issues associated with asbestos, such as mesothelioma or asbestosis, generally require consistent prolonged exposure.
Isolated incidents such as rummaging through an attic with asbestos insulation, for example, or undertaking a minor renovation job without realizing old materials contained asbestos won’t necessarily result in a deadly disease.
This Can Change if Exposure Is Significant
However, circumstances could change the outlook drastically if exposure intensity was major even within a singular event. For example, firefighters and rescuers exposed to asbestos during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City encountered intense levels of various toxic substances, including asbestos, due to collapsing buildings.
This event led to substantial inhalation of asbestos fibers over a relatively short duration, increasing their risk of diseases such as mesothelioma or other lung issues significantly despite not being exposed again later in life. In this case, even one-time exposure became gravely hazardous and often fatal due to its degree and concentrated nature.
Symptoms To Be Aware of If You’ve Been Exposed to Asbestos
If you’ve been exposed to asbestos, staying mindful of any potential symptoms can enable prompt healthcare intervention. Since the health consequences are often related to lung damage, initial warning signs typically include respiratory problems.
Watch out for persistent dry coughing or wheezing, chest pain or tightness, shortness of breath even with minute exertion, and unusual tiredness or loss of appetite. Also, be aware of any potential lung infections, such as pneumonia or bronchitis, that recur unexpectedly. If you have unexplained weight loss and hear a dry, crackling sound in the lungs while breathing in, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Legal Considerations of Asbestos Exposure and Related Conditions
In cases where you are facing an asbestos-related condition because of negligence on your employer’s part or due to a third party, potential legal avenues might be open to you for seeking financial reparations.
These could include claims related to workers’ compensation benefits if exposure occurred during occupational duties or lawsuits against the negligent parties. The same applies if products containing asbestos without proper disclosures led to your disease, in which case product liability laws will likely come into play.
Understanding Mesothelioma Trust Funds as a Way To Seek Compensation
When facing a mesothelioma diagnosis, one possible avenue for compensation is through mesothelioma trust funds. Many companies that formerly manufactured asbestos-related products have set up these trust funds to compensate victims as a requirement during their bankruptcy proceedings.
If you can demonstrate your disease relates directly to exposure to these companies’ products, accessing these funds for payment of your medical bills and related costs is a possibility. These claims differ from traditional personal injury or workers’ comp lawsuits, often leading to a quicker resolution. A legal expert can guide you through the process, ensuring all requirements are appropriately met.
FAQ
Does Everyone Who Is Exposed to Asbestos Get Mesothelioma?
While asbestos exposure contributes significantly to developing mesothelioma, not everyone exposed will necessarily get this disease. The reality is that it’s a relatively rare form of cancer and typically necessitates substantial and prolonged exposure.
Factors such as duration of contact, intensity or concentration levels during exposures, and the individual’s existing health condition explicitly related to lung function or smoking status can all play roles in the risk level of developing this condition.
How Much Asbestos Exposure Is Harmful?
It’s crucial to understand that there is no safe level of asbestos exposure. Ideally, zero contact is the best, as even minor amounts could theoretically create health issues, particularly for individuals with other existing lung conditions or compromised immune status.
However, typically, more substantial or repeated exposures over time pose a higher risk of developing asbestos-related diseases. The likelihood of conditions like asbestosis, lung cancer, or mesothelioma increases the longer and more intense the exposure to this fiber is.
Asbestos exposure can also be considered cumulative, much like sun damage or radiation — it’s all about the overall dose over a lifetime. So, while each encounter might not seem excessively harmful on its own, if you factor in multiple exposures over an extended period, these could add up to pose a significant risk for asbestos-related diseases.
How Long After Exposure to Asbestos Do Symptoms Appear?
Health issues related to asbestos exposure often display a latency period — the duration before symptoms appear after first contact. This delay typically spans over very lengthy periods, with signs starting to emerge anywhere from 10 years from exposure to decades after exposure.
Asbestosis might develop anywhere from 10 to 40 years after constant exposure. Mesothelioma can take an even longer time to show its symptoms — commonly between 20 to 50 years after first contact.
Contact Gomez Trial Attorneys for Help With Your Asbestos Exposure Claim
If you believe your health has been compromised due to asbestos exposure, considering legal representation is essential. While we understand financial compensation can never make up for the damage that has been caused, it’s essential to seek compensation to allow you to afford all medical treatments necessary for recovery and continued care.
At Gomez Trial Attorneys, we’re intensely committed to representing victims of asbestos exposure, ensuring your rights are safeguarded throughout the claim process. Contact us today for a free consultation by calling 619-237-3490 or by contacting us online.