Asbestos exposure may be a problem you don’t even think about.  You assume asbestos exposure would never happen to you.  Especially if you don’t work in manufacturing, automotive, or shipbuilding – major industries where asbestos exposure is likely to happen. This is the 21^st century and asbestos is longer widely used.

But here’s the reality check.  Home is where the heart is, as they say. But it may also be where the asbestos is – and in places you can’t even see.

Older Homes Ooze with Charm and Potential Asbestos Exposure

What’s not to like about older homes?  They often have elegant high ceilings, solid plaster walls, vintage hardwood floors and charming architectural details hard to come by in newer more bland construction. The downside is the potential for asbestos exposure. Most homes built before 1975 contain asbestos.

Although the manufacture of construction materials containing asbestos mostly has stopped, millions of single family homes and apartment buildings still may harbor substantial amounts of asbestos.

Insulation Is Classic Example of Hidden Asbestos Exposure

Asbestos was once prized for its ability to take the heat. It could withstand high temperatures without catching on fire. That made it a likely component to use in products where heat resistance is a factor. That included home insulation.  What makes insulation especially dangerous, especially blown-in insulation, is that it is more likely to be loose and release dust as it breaks down or is moved.

In August 2000, an assistant U.S. Surgeon General requested warnings to the public about insulation products containing asbestos. Testing had revealed that any handling of asbestos-based insulation by homeowners could trigger airborne asbestos exposure at greater than 150 times the asbestos exposure level that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration considered safe for workers.

The exact number and location of homes that may contain the asbestos-based insulation is uncertain. The company’s files and testimony put estimates at anywhere from 12 million to 35 million homes, offices and schools.

An EPA toxicologist reported that if people with this type of insulation did any repair work, like installing fans or light fixtures in their ceilings, could stir up enough asbestos dust to potentially cost them their lives.

That concern focuses on insulation. The bigger picture is that insulation is but one of many possible materials in a house that may contain asbestos.

The Risk of Even a Little Bit of Asbestos Exposure

Asbestos exposure can be lethal at any level. All health authorities agree that there is no such thing as a safe level of asbestos exposure. Asbestos remains relatively unproblematic if it is inert, covered and undisturbed. But like a previously calm volcano erupting, once asbestos is damaged and broken apart in a renovation or repair project, dangerous asbestos dust particles can be released.

You cannot smell or taste asbestos. The dust particles are tinier than snowflakes and invisible to the eye. But unlike snowflakes, they do not melt.  Microscopic asbestos particles when inhaled begin to scar and damage body tissue wherever they settle, typically the lungs. There are no symptoms anyone would notice at first. But over decades damage silently builds up. By the time a serious asbestos-related illness such as mesothelioma emerges, it is usually too late. There is no cure.

DIY Asbestos Exposure in the Home

Today in the United States, asbestos exposures can occur during repair, renovation, removal, or maintenance of asbestos that was installed years ago.  The home’s residents can also be exposed to asbestos while this work is underway and even after.

But do-it-yourself (DIY) home remodel projects have become a likely cause of risky asbestos exposure, mainly because many home owners don’t know what to look for.  A list of asbestos products used in the construction of homes before 1975 includes:

• floor tiles and the adhesive used to put them down
• linoleum
• spackling, caulking and joint compound on drywall
• plaster and cement
• some roofing materials
• insulation for walls, pipes and HVAC ducts
• some forms of siding

Asbestos Is Still Legal in These Products

Beginning in the early 1970s, asbestos exposure concerns prompted many attempts to ban the use of asbestos in many products. This culminated in 1989, with the EPA banning most asbestos-containing products through the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). However, in 1991, this was overturned as a result of industry opposition.  Because of that, although everyone thinks asbestos has been banned, it still lurks in many products available to purchase by unsuspecting consumers.

Here are some listed by the EPA that a home owner or home remodeler might encounter:

• Cement corrugated sheet
• Cement flat sheet
• Pipeline wrap
• Roofing felt
• Vinyl floor tile
• Cement shingle
• Millboard
• Cement pipe
• Gaskets
• Non-roofing coatings
• Roof coatings

Asbestos Do’s and Don’ts for the Homeowner

The EPA advises taking the following precautions to avoid asbestos exposure:

• Do leave undamaged asbestos-containing materials alone.
• Do avoid any areas where there’s damaged material that may contain asbestos. Keep the areas off limits to children.
• Do take every precaution to avoid damaging asbestos-containing material.
• Do have removal and major repair done by people trained and qualified in handling asbestos. Testing and minor repair also should be done by a qualified accredited asbestos professional.
• Don’t dust, sweep, or vacuum debris that may contain asbestos.
• Don’t saw, sand, scrape, or drill holes in asbestos-containing materials.
• Don’t use abrasive pads or brushes on power strippers to strip wax from asbestos on flooring that may contain asbestos.
• Don’t sand or try to level asbestos flooring or its backing. When asbestos flooring needs replacing install new floor covering over it, if possible.
• Don’t track material that could contain asbestos through the house. If you think you may have, the area must be cleaned. Call an asbestos professional.

How to Prevent Asbestos Exposure At Home

Asbestos exposure is to be avoided for everyone’s health and safety. The best way to do that is to have your home or one you may buy or rent checked by a professional asbestos inspector.

An asbestos inspector will know where to look for possible asbestos, take samples for laboratory analysis, and suggest where and how any possible asbestos contamination should be repaired. Expect to spend about $400 to $800 for the inspection, lab fees, and report for a 1,500 square foot home.

Check with local health department and EPA offices for help finding an accredited asbestos professional to do this important work for you.

How Much Asbestos Removal Costs

Asbestos removal is a big hazardous job and it comes – no surprise – with a big price tag. But your life and the lives of your loved ones could be at stake. Clearing your home of asbestos by a professional asbestos abatement contractor could cost $2,000 to $10,000.  That should include using techniques to avoid dispersing dangerous asbestos particles during the removal process as well as the removal itself. It will also include the disposal of the asbestos removed from your home in an approved hazardous waste landfill in accordance with federal, state and local safety regulations.

Although asbestos removal is costly, so is the treatment of asbestos-caused disease.  It is better to prevent asbestos exposure before it happens.

By now, most people are aware that asbestos is a dangerous mineral that can cause serious health problems. What you may not know is that the risks from asbestos exposure are long-lived and stealthy. Plus, despite the fact that the dangers of asbestos exposure have been well understood for 100 years, there is still asbestos in our built environment. No matter what your profession or where you live, it makes sense to understand the dangers of asbestos exposure so you can better protect yourself and those you care about.

The Dangers of Asbestos Exposure

Asbestos is a mineral. What makes this mineral so dangerous to humans is that it forms into long, fine fibers. These hair-like fibers contain millions of much smaller fibers, invisible to the naked eye. The microscopic mini-fibers are easily dislodged from the mineral and can become airborne. The airborne particles can be inhaled, which is why asbestos most commonly causes diseases of the lungs.

The human body has a genius method for cleaning and healing itself. Your immune system is constantly identifying and expelling alien or harmful substances from your body. Unfortunately, those microscopic asbestos fibers are thin and sharp. They can become stuck in tender lung tissue and dig in, resisting the body’s attempts to clean them out.

Over time, asbestos fibers lodged in your lungs and burrowed into surrounding tissue can cause irritation and inflammation. Eventually, often over the course of several decades, that irritation may develop into lung cancer or mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining around the lung.

Mesothelioma is a rare cancer that is caused by those tiny asbestos fibers. Not everyone who was exposed to asbestos will become sick because of asbestos exposure. The greater your exposure the greater the chances of developing mesothelioma. You could also develop asbestos-related lung cancer or another disease of asbestos exposure.  3,000 Americans who are exposed to asbestos – usually in a workplace – will develop mesothelioma each year.

While the good news is that the majority of people will not develop this dreaded disease, even one case is too much. There is no cure for mesothelioma and more than 90% of patients die within five years after diagnosis.

Who Is Most Likely to Have Asbestos Exposure?

Before you panic about asbestos exposure, remember that your chances of developing mesothelioma go up with greater exposure. There are certain professions and age groups who have elevated risks because they worked with asbestos before worker protections were in place.

If you worked in any of these settings before the 1970s, when growing awareness (and asbestos litigation) led some industries to stop using asbestos and others to develop some safety protocols to protect workers, your risk of developing mesothelioma or another disease caused by asbestos exposure is higher. While that era may seem too long ago to worry about, mesothelioma can take 50 years or more to develop after exposure, so those who worked with asbestos in the last century aren’t out of the woods yet.

The workers most likely to suffer from the effects of asbestos exposure include:

• Workers in boiler rooms (where asbestos was used as a heat insulating material), particularly on Navy ships
• Construction workers who installed or removed asbestos insulation and other products containing asbestos
• Workers in asbestos mines or processing plants
• Employees of corporations whose products contained asbestos (such as brake linings) and the workers at companies that used those asbestos-laden products
• Military personnel, especially Vietnam veterans and those who served on naval vessels.

Unfortunately, there is still a great deal of asbestos in the built environment. While there are now protocols for safe asbestos removal, not all construction crews follow those guidelines. As a result, some workers still experience unsafe levels of asbestos exposure to this day.

Awareness of the danger of asbestos exposure is important. While you can’t do anything (yet) to change whether or not you will eventually develop mesothelioma, understanding the signs and symptoms and getting regular checkups can lead to an early diagnosis. The earlier you catch your asbestos related disease, the better your treatment options and the longer your survival time is likely to be.

Lurking Asbestos Exposure

Many people who develop mesothelioma have a clear understanding of where they got their asbestos exposure. They were  sailors in the Navy during the Korean War or spent years installing  Bendix brake linings as an auto mechanic. Sometimes, however, asbestos exposure comes from less obvious sources.

There have been many cases of mesothelioma among the wives of men who worked with asbestos. These women suffered asbestos exposure when they washed their husbands’ work clothes, which were covered in those tiny, invisible asbestos fibers. In fact, Kazan Law won a verdict of over $27 million for a woman whose asbestos exposure came from contact with her husband’s work clothing, who worked installing insulation.

There are cases where people who aren’t connected to professions most linked with asbestos exposure and mesothelioma have become ill because of asbestos. The deadly fibers can be found in ceiling tiles, drywall, and insulation, especially in older buildings. Asbestos can become liberated (and dangerous) during building renovations, DIY home improvements, or just daily wear and tear as the structure ages. There is still asbestos in the walls and ceilings and boiler rooms of some schools, apartment buildings, homes, and office buildings. There was even a case where a retired judge developed cancer because of exposure to asbestos in his New Jersey courthouse.

Awareness can help prevent asbestos exposure. Find out if insulation, ceiling tiles, or other materials in your home or workplace contain asbestos before undertaking renovations. If they do, use the services of a contactor trained to safely handle asbestos remediation. If you work in an environment where you may be exposed to toxic asbestos fibers, educate yourself about best practices for protecting your lungs and insist that your employer follow them.

States with the Most Asbestos Exposure

When it comes to asbestos exposure, all states in the US are not created equal. California has the highest rate of deaths due to mesothelioma and other diseases caused by asbestos exposure, at more than 4,000 per year. Florida is next, followed by New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

What all these states have in common is that they were home to sites where asbestos was mined or products using asbestos were manufactured or extensively used. Other hot spots around the United States include Libby, Montana, home of a large mine supplying vermiculite that was contaminated with asbestos. Detroit’s auto manufacturing industry was the source of exposure for many Michigan workers. Washington, though a small state, has a high per capita rate of mesothelioma because of asbestos exposure among shipyard workers. Former hubs of manufacturing and industry in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other Midwestern states have also seen elevated levels of illness related to asbestos exposure.

The bottom line is that, due to years of unfettered use of asbestos in the United States, it will be many more decades before we see our last case of mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure. Until then, knowledge about the risks is your best protection.

Mesothelioma cancer strikes firefighters at double the rate of the rest of the population according to a startling new study.   Mesothelioma is a lethal form of cancer with only one known cause – inhaling asbestos dust.

Nearly 30,000 firefighters from the San Francisco, Chicago, and Philadelphia fire departments were tracked for five years. The study started in 2010 and ended in 2015. The collected data was analyzed and the findings have been released.

Mesothelioma Cancer Becomes Focus of Top US Health Agencies

A clearer understanding of the risk of mesothelioma cancer for firefighters was the goal of the study.  To ensure that the study was as comprehensive and thorough as possible, it involved the collaboration of twp major US government health agencies.  Although the study was initiated by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), researchers from the National Cancer Institute also participated.  Scientists from the University of California, Davis Department of Public Health Sciences also were involved.   The U.S. Fire Administration helped underwrite the costs of the study.

Increased Mesothelioma Cancer Risk and Other Key Findings

Besides the shocking rate of mesothelioma cancer at double that of the rest of the population, firefighters also faced higher risks of other types of cancer.  Here are the key findings from the firefighters study:

Firefighters Cancer Risks Compared to the US Population

Firefighters faced higher rates of cancer diagnoses and cancer-related deaths than the rest of the US population

• Mesothelioma cancer is joined by other types of respiratory cancers as well as urinary, digestive and oral cancers as affecting fire fighters more than the general population.
• Mesothelioma cancer, considered rare in the general population, is double among firefighters compared to non-firefighters. Firefighters’ exposure to asbestos is the cause.
• Younger firefighters are at a higher risk for certain cancers than older firefighters. These cancers include bladder and prostate at higher than expected rates in firefighters who are under 65 years of age.
• The odds of dying of lung cancer increased with the amount of time a firefighter spent fighting fires
• The odds of dying from leukemia increased with the number of fires a firefighter fought

Mesothelioma Cancer Prevention Steps For Firefighters

Mesothelioma cancer and other cancers can be tragic causes of premature death when faced b y the general population.  But for firefighters, whose jobs demand that they risk their lives for the sake of others, to double their risk of cancer as a result compounds the tragedy.

Without doubt, every effort needs to be made to protect firefighters from hazardous occupational exposure that can cause cancer.  The study states that fire services need to provide better training to firefighters on how to reduce their risk. It further suggests that firefighters should receive specific training on using protective clothing and respiratory devices at all times when they are at a fire site.

The study authors encourage firefighters to share the study findings with their doctor.  “It is important that your doctor is kept aware of possible job-related health concerns,” the conclusion states.

Why Firefighters Are Getting Cancer More Now

Mesothelioma cancer and other cancer deaths among fire fighters have risen steadily since the 1950s. Why? A recent article in the Atlantic Monthly says our possessions are to blame. The shift to using more synthetic materials in home furnishings and products creates toxic smoke when they burn.

“A century ago, we furnished our houses with wood, cloth, metal, and glass. Today, it’s plastics, foams, and coatings—all of which create a toxic soup of carcinogens when they burn. Fire experts say synthetic materials create hundreds of times more smoke than organic ones; flame retardants alone double the amount of smoke and increase toxic gasses 10-fold. Your TV, your kid’s Barbie, your Saran wrap, your couch: all of them can be poisonous when they’re ignited and their fumes are inhaled,” the article explains.

Tracking Mesothelioma Cancer and Other Cancers in Firefighters

Mesothelioma cancer rates and other cancers in firefighters were determined in the NIOSH study through careful statistical analysis.  The statistical analysis process involved four steps described by the researchers.

Step 1.  The researchers compiled their study population. They combed the records of the fire departments in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Chicago to come up with their list of 29,993 fire fighters who were on active duty until 2009.

Step 2.  The researchers obtained US cancer and death records through 2009. From this information, they were able to pinpoint when and how former firefighters had died and what the causes of death were.  They double-checked with each state’s cancer registry data to confirm which firefighters  were diagnosed with cancer.

The cancers associated with firefighters included cancers of the lung, including mesothelioma cancer,  stomach, esophagus, brain,  intestines, rectum,  kidney , bladder prostate, testes, leukemia, multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Step 3.  The researchers next calculated each of the nearly 30,000 firefighter’s potential job exposures.  These measures included:

Exposed days: the number of days each firefighter worked in a job or at a location

Fire runs: the total number of fires each firefighter from the Chicago and Philadelphia Fire Departments went to

Fire hours: the total time spent at fires by each firefighter from the Chicago Fire Department

Step 4. To come up with rates of risk, the researchers compared illness rates of several groups. They compared cancer diagnoses and death rates among:

Firefighters Compared to U.S. and State Populations

Firefighters with more days of being exposed to fires compared to those with fewer

Firefighters from the Chicago and Philadelphia groups who went to more fires compared to those who went to fewer

Chicago firefighters who were at fires for longer periods of time compared to those who were there less

The fact that firefighters suffer double the cancer rate as the rest of the citizenry is another deadly reminder that exposure to toxic chemicals must be monitored and controlled. The toxic soup of chemicals firefighters are often exposed to when fighting a blaze can include the deadly mineral asbestos. Asbestos leads to mesothelioma cancer which kills its victims and has no known cure at this time.  Hopefully with studies like this more firefighters can and will protect their lives through safety  protocols, precautions including the right equipment and clothing, and continued rigorous training about the chemicals they face every time they answer a call of duty.