Asbestos is a material highly toxic. So when the fibers suspended in the air are inhaled, they can cause respiratory diseases. Its deleterious effects are related to their indestructibility and their deposit in the lung tissue which precedes their migration to the envelope of the lung (the pleura and peritoneum).
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An asbestos fiber is 400 to 2 000 times smaller than a human hair, allowing it to penetrate to the alveoli: gas exchange take place between air and blood circulation.
Trapped, these fibers can cause inflammation or non-cancerous chromosomal abnormalities, the starting point for benign disease or cancer:
Asbestosis
Asbestos pleural disease asbestosis cancer mésothéliomesLes asbestos fibers enter the lungs and cause inflammation, which is transformed into fibrosis (thickening of lung tissue). It generally takes about ten years between inhalation and onset of the disease. Shortness of breath, dry cough, tightness are the first symptoms can progress to respiratory failure, which can be fatal. (more…)
