Asbestos Info | Causes of Mesothelioma

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Mesothelioma is rare form of cancer, accounting for less than 5 % of all cancers.  Pleural mesothelioma, mesothelioma of the membranes that circle and protect the lungs is called "a signal tumor for asbestos exposure" by the Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry.  In fact, on the Centers for Disease Control takes one to the Work-Related Lung Disease Surveillance System, because so few other causes for mesothelioma besides asbestos exposure are conclusively linked to the disease.  Mesothelioma is NOT caused by:

• Smoking
• Car fumes
• Chest x-rays
• Radon exposure

In short, if you have mesothelioma, it is fairly certain that you got it as a result of asbestos exposure. The latency period (the time between exposure and manifestation of effects) is fairly long, from 10-50 years, so if you worked with asbestos during the 50s or 60s, you are still at risk for mesothelioma.

Risk of Mesothelioma
You have an elevated risk of contracting mesothelioma if you worked in any of the following environments:

• Asbestos product manufacturing including:
• Insulation
• Roofing
• Building materials
• Car parts (Brake pads, clutch facings, valve covers, etc.)
• Automotive repair (especially brakes and clutches)
• Construction sites (bricklayers, carpenters, drywallers, insulators, etc.)
• Demolition sites
• Docks (longshoremen, laborers)
• Work aboard ships - including while serving in the Navy or Merchant Marines
• Mining operations (including sites where vermiculite ore was processed)
• Offshore work (including oil rigs and shipboard labor)
• Oil refineries
• Power plants (Boilermakers, furnace workers, operating engineers)
• Working on the railroad
• Shipyards
• Steel mills

Because of the high level of activity in the shipyards, Baltimore has a correspondingly high level of mesothelioma.  In addition, anyone exposed to workers at high risk for mesothelioma, is also at risk for the disease. There are a number of cases of housewives who have contracted the disease from laundering husbands' clothes, and even children who contracted mesothelioma from hugging their parents after work.

If you worked in any high-risk environment, or were closely associated with anyone who worked in a high-risk environment, you should be wary of the early symptoms of mesothelioma, including:

• Shortness of breath
• Chest or abdominal pain
• Persistent cough

It is important that you receive a mesothelioma diagnosis early to improve your chances of survival.

If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, contact the experienced mesothelioma lawyers at Parker, Dumler, & Kiely, LLP today for a free initial consultation.

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