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Asbestos and your health
If materials containing asbestos are disturbed, it can become a major health risk. People working with asbestos can inhale airborne particles, which remain in their lungs.
The chance of lung disease is generally associated with how much asbestos a person is exposed to and for how long. However, as the risk level of exposure is unknown, exposure to fibres or particles should always be kept to a minium. Smokers in particular have an increased risk.
Workers involved in mining and manufacture of asbestos, shipbuilding, railway carriage construction, office and industrial building construction and power industries were at greatest risk. Their families may have also been exposed to asbestos fibres brought home on workers' clothing.
Asbestos-related lung diseases include Asbestosis, Lung Cancer, Pleural Disorders, and Malignant Mesothelioma.
For more information on health risks from asbestos:
- Department of Human Services, phone (03) 9637 4156
- Asbestos and your health
Better health channel, Victorian Government Department of Human Services
www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Asbestos_and_your_health?open
Reviewed: 10 August 2009
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