What makes asbestos toxic

Dose-related means the more asbestos you breathe, the more likely you are to get sick. The one asbestos disease that is different is mesothelioma. Very small amounts of asbestos can give you mesothelioma. Asbestos workers' families have gotten mesothelioma from the dust the workers brought home on their clothes. All of the asbestos diseases have a latency period. The latency period is the gap between the time you breathe asbestos and the time you start to feel sick.

The latency period for asbestos diseases is between 10 to 40 years. You will not feel sick during the latency period. If you get an asbestos disease, you will begin to feel sick after the latency period.

Not everyone exposed to asbestos gets an asbestos disease. However, anyone exposed to asbestos has a higher risk of getting an asbestos disease. All of the asbestos diseases are difficult to treat. Most are impossible to cure.

Stopping asbestos fibers from ever entering your lungs is important. The only cure for most asbestos diseases is to prevent them. The most common test used to learn if you have been exposed to asbestos is a chest x-ray.

Considerable alterations take place in the pulmonary metabolic machinery. Mitochondria in lung cells were found to be important loci for the toxic effect of asbestos.

A profile of mitochondrial activity, in control and asbestotic animals, revealed specific enzymic changes such as increased cytochrome c oxidase during the disease. The functional organization of mitochondria was also altered, since the organelles from asbestotic lungs were swollen as measured by spectrophotometry.

Glutamate dehydrogenase activity of mitochondria became exposed in asbestosis. The maleate dehydrogenase shunt which is involved in transport of the redox potential across the membrane was enhanced in cytosol and mitochondria.

The involvement of microsomal enzymes in asbestosis was indicated by alterations in glucosephosphatase and tyrosine transaminase and aniline hydroxylase. Changes in the biotransformational capacity of lung, due to asbestos, could be an important aspect in toxicity, especially the carcinogenic effect.

Considerable alterations were encountered in the levels of different phospholipids and in mucopolysaccharide constituents. On the basis of the above, the molecular mechanisms in asbestos toxicity are explained as an integrated model. Interactions of dust constituents with those of membranes and the ensuing metabolic adjustments are thus important in the etiology of asbestosis.

Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. Asbestos fibers can enter the air or water from the breakdown of natural deposits and manufactured asbestos products. Asbestos fibers do not evaporate into air or dissolve in water. Small diameter fibers and particles may remain suspended in the air for a long time and be carried long distances by wind or water before settling down.

Larger diameter fibers and particles tend to settle more quickly. Asbestos fibers are not able to move through soil. Asbestos fibers are generally not broken down to other compounds and will remain virtually unchanged over long periods. We are all exposed to low levels of asbestos in the air we breathe. These levels range from 0. People working in industries that make or use asbestos products or who are involved in asbestos mining may be exposed to high levels of asbestos.

People living near these industries may also be exposed to high levels of asbestos in air. Asbestos fibers may be released into the air by the disturbance of asbestos-containing material during product use, demolition work, building or home maintenance, repair, and remodeling.

In general, exposure may occur only when the asbestos-containing material is disturbed in some way to release particles and fibers into the air. Drinking water may contain asbestos from natural sources or from asbestos-containing cement pipes. Asbestos mainly affects the lungs and the membrane that surrounds the lungs. Breathing high levels of asbestos fibers for a long time may result in scar-like tissue in the lungs and in the pleural membrane lining that surrounds the lung.

This disease is called asbestosis and is usually found in workers exposed to asbestos, but not in the general public. People with asbestosis have difficulty breathing, often a cough, and in severe cases heart enlargement. Asbestosis is a serious disease and can eventually lead to disability and death. Breathing lower levels of asbestos may result in changes called plaques in the pleural membranes.

Pleural plaques can occur in workers and sometimes in people living in areas with high environmental levels of asbestos.

Effects on breathing from pleural plaques alone are not usually serious, but higher exposure can lead to a thickening of the pleural membrane that may restrict breathing. It is known that breathing asbestos can increase the risk of cancer in people. There are two types of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos: lung cancer and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the thin lining surrounding the lung pleural membrane or abdominal cavity the peritoneum.

Cancer from asbestos does not develop immediately, but shows up after a number of years.