What You Should Know - Mesothelioma Treatment

By Veronica Carrillo

Although you may think that asbestos is an inherently dangerous product, it can be very helpful as an insulator as well. The degree of hazard surrounding asbestos depends on whether or not it is friable. This affects the amount of asbestos that you are likely to inhale or ingest, when it can cause cancer in your body.

Mesothelioma is a cancer that is found in the body's mesothelium, a membrane that covers internal organs. Symptoms of this cancer depends on the location of the body, but may include pain in the chest, fever, anemia, blood clotting, shortness of breath, bowel obstruction. To accurately diagnose this illness involves a procedure where the doctor collects tissue samples that are sent for an analysis by a pathologist.

However, it's also the ability to flake into tiny fibers that makes asbestos so dangerous. Asbestos products that can release the carcinogen into the air are determined to be "friable." On the other hand, products which have asbestos sealed tightly so that it is unable to be released into the air are called "non-friable." While the use of this material is primarily banned, some non-friable containers of asbestos are still allowed.

The problem with asbestos fibers is that our bodies are unable to break down and digest or process them. Thus, our tissues form nodules around the fibers that can later turn into cancerous tumors, or they can contribute to problems such as pleural effusions. Indeed, when asbestos is present in the skin, it forms lumps called asbestos warts.

While non-friable asbestos is considered to be safer than friable asbestos, the former can still break down due to age or wear and tear, enabling it to become present in the air. Thus, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, enacted legislation regarding asbestos, it took into account the potential dangers of even non-friable asbestos. The National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) regulates asbestos in the air. It states that both non-friable and friable asbestos can become weakened by forces of nature or other such friction, resulting in the release of carcinogenic fibers. Thus, even if your home contains non-friable asbestos, renovations or remodeling can release dangerous fibers.

Treatments for this disease is expensive and under the mesothelioma law, a person living with this condition can turn to a lawyer for help protect their rights. Victims of this disease can find a lawyer who specializes in mesothelioma law for help obtaining compensation for damages they may have suffered.

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