Health Risks and Issues
The problem with asbestos is the fibres. They break off at the slightest provocation. Needle sharp and shaped like spears, they can be inhaled by the thousands with each breath. Some doctors belive that even one fibre, lodged in the wrong place, can eventually kill a person. While many of the fibres find their way safely out of the body, others inevitably embed themselves in soft tissue and cannot be removed. they most often lodge in the lungs and lining of the abdomen but have been found in nearly every major organ of the human body, including the brain and the heart.
Asbestos exposure is related to increased levels of several types of cancer, especially of the lungs and stomach. Asbestos is the sole cause of mesothelioma, a virulent and fatal cancer that doctors say is more physically painful and psychologically devastating than HIV/AIDS. It also causes asbestosis, a serious, progressive, and potentially fatal disease that eventually kills its victims by cutting off their oxygen supply. Asbestosis can lie dormant and then suddenly "flower" causing death in a relatively short time; its victims are said to have ticking time-bombs inside there chests.