March is Asbestos Awareness Month
What should you know about asbestos?
The risk of getting an asbestos related disease correlates to the dose and duration of exposure. Those working in a job with exposure naturally are at greater risk; however particles on clothing brought home puts others at risk. Risk also exists for exposure due to damaged materials in buildings that utilized asbestos.
Asbestos fibers remain trapped in your lungs for life. The more you inhale the greater your risk of getting an asbestos related disease. The risk never disappears. Other factors such as cigarette smoking, and personal genetics will determine ‘if’ and ‘when’ symptoms will appear. The shortest latency period from exposure to asbestos to appearance of disease is 5 to 10 years, but could be as long as 40 years. There is no safe level of exposure to asbestos.
Raquel Billiones has a PhD in Biology and has over 15 years experience as a researcher, scientific English teacher, and medical writer. Since 2006, she has been a freelance WAHM specializing in medical writing and scientific documentation. 
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