Asbestos: harm to human health

Before people realized that asbestos is a dangerous material for health, it was widely used in various fields of the national economy. Most often - in the construction of various buildings and structures. Until the seventies of the last century, this fibrous substance was especially appreciated for its excellent heat resistance and excellent resistance to weather conditions. However, soon the scientists drew attention to some of the negative properties of asbestos. Harm to human health of this material and its impact on the environment have been the object of many scientific studies.

Based on the results of the work, this material was listed in the list of the most dangerous substances by IARC classification, today it is considered one of the most dangerous carcinogens. But why did people think about the harmful properties of this material? How much in fact does asbestos cause harm to health? Let's try to understand.

What is asbestos?

Asbestos is a mineral substance belonging to the category of fine-grained silicates. In nature, there are many of its deposits. In its natural form it is a mineral compound having a spatial structure in the form of the finest flexible fibers. According to the structure there are two options:

• Amphibole-asbestos - has a structure in the form of straight needle-like fibers;
• Chrysotile-asbestos, or white asbestos - has a structure in the form of serpentines, that is, complexly curved or twisted fibers.

Amphibole, in turn, is divided into two subgroups - crocidolites (blue asbestos) and amosites (brown asbestos).

More dangerous are fragile amphibole-asbestos: the health hazards are small and sharp particles inhaled by a person when the fibers are destroyed. Getting into the body, harmful dust does not dissolve and is not excreted from the lungs - there it remains for life, gradually growing into tissues and poisoning the host.

Serpentines have a softer structure, so they are considered less dangerous. They, unlike the amphibole, quickly dissolve and are excreted from the body without causing any particular harm.

Where was asbestos used?

In its heyday, this mineral substance was widely used in various types of production, in the automotive sector, shipbuilding, aircraft building and, of course, in construction. To this day, we can meet this substance in old residential buildings, where it was used in the elements of building insulation of pipes, ceiling and floor coverings, paints and finishing materials, as a cement additive and in the manufacture of roof slate. This material was actively used in the construction of baths on private plots. Dachniki did not suspect that when heating asbestos, the harm to health increases several times.

It was used in the production of consumer goods - heaters, household utensils, cosmetics and even in the manufacture of children's crayons. At that time, it never occurred to anyone that the fine particles of asbestos could be dangerous.

Harm to health, obtained from the effects of this mineral, was felt first of all by those people who participated in the production process.

The first information about the danger of a mineral

The first information on the health hazards of asbestos began to come after a survey of mining miners who also used this material in their work. Many workers have been diagnosed with various pathologies, signs of oncological diseases and especially frequent violations of the bronchopulmonary system.

After numerous studies, the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 1987 released the result: it harms asbestos. Lung cancer, mesothelioma, various fibroses, asbestoses of different severity and other types of cancer in the human body appear precisely because of the influence of the amphibole.

The European community was shocked by the results, so today in many countries the use of this material in production or construction is strictly prohibited. Immediately after information about the damaging effect of the amphibole for the human being became available to the public, in some states, various campaigns began to replace the asbestos-containing components on alternative materials.

Is it possible to avoid harmful effects?

Unfortunately, it is impossible to completely exclude asbestos-containing substances from our life. This mineral is in small amounts in soil, air and water. Today, according to some reports, more than a million workers in various industries are still in contact with the harmful substance due to the impossibility of excluding it from the process.

Where else does asbestos occur?

This mineral is still present in obsolete models of cars, some residential buildings, old dacha buildings. For many gardeners, the source of special harm to health is asbestos in a bath. After all, in Soviet times it was used as a fireproof material for various coatings.

Asbestos does not burn, but being exposed to high temperatures begins to break down, releasing a harmful amphibole. Not all owners of suburban dachas realize that they are subjecting themselves and their households to mortal danger.

Scope of application today

In Russia, despite unconditional harm to health, asbestos is contained in more than 3000 different products: it is used for the production of filters and tarpaulins, paper and cardboard, protective suits for firefighters and some asbestos cement building materials. In our country it is allowed to be used in many industrial technologies, but the use must be clearly controlled.

By the way, here it is necessary to make a reservation. For a human body, it is not the asbestos products themselves that are harmful, but the fine particles of this mineral that are suspended in the air. Usually the weighed state of fine asbestos dust can be observed only on the development of deposits, in certain technological processes of various industries or in the destruction of old buildings. To get malignant particles in a domestic environment, it will be necessary to crush the asbestos-containing product (the same slate) purposefully.

Nevertheless, any products begin to deteriorate over time. As a result of aging, mineral fibers are split into fine dust, it can become an allergen to the human body. Getting into the lungs, there remains for ever a harmful asbestos. Damage to health, growing in cloth, it brings tremendous. Although the first signs of malaise can only be manifested after a few years. It is known that in people who came into contact with such dust, various oncological formations arose on average only after 7 years, many patients passed an even longer period.

Scary statistics

According to statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO), asbestos is the cause of oncological diseases of the bronchopulmonary system in 20% of patients. Therefore, asbestos-containing technologies are rejected all over the world.

Causes of the disease

Until now, it is not clear how exactly asbestos dust causes pulmonary diseases. Most likely the development of pathologies arises from the trauma of the mucous membranes, which causes hyperplasia, metaplasia and epithelial growth. Manifestations of metaplasia are associated with the chemical composition of certain types of mineral containing kieselguhr. There are opinions that the onset of oncological diseases of the bronchopulmonary system is promoted not by the chemical properties of asbestos, but by severe bronchiectasis caused by the constant inhalation of dust.

However, in any case, the inflammatory processes of the respiratory tract in the form of chronic rhinopharyngitis and bronchiolitis, caused by mechanical and chemical exposure to asbestos dust, are at the heart of the disease.

Take care of yourself and your loved ones! Do not expose the harmful effect of harmful dust!