Asbestos Cancer Law

by Gus Benson

Asbestos cancer law includes those laws that have been established by various governments that regulate exposure to asbestos in the workplace. Asbestos cancer law also allows people who are injured as a result of prolonged asbestos exposure to seek compensation from their employer.

This is often done in various class action lawsuits on the part of employees against companies that manufactured asbestos related products.

Asbestos has historically been part of over 5000 different products and has been in use for over hundreds of years. Asbestos finds its use in a wide variety of appliances - vehicle brakes, building materials, ships, roofing materials, plastics, paints, some paper products, and much more. Asbestos exposure has proved very harmful to human health. Even though the ill effects of asbestos exposure have been well known for quite some time, some organizations still choose to use asbestos. Not only that, most structures still have products containing asbestos. Shipyard, automotive, factory, construction, custodial and building industry workers are all exposed to asbestos in greater or lesser extents.

Asbestos and Cancer

Karen Brown

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos related cancer, you may want to seek legal advice. Typical legal settelements can reach five million dollars.

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer in which malignant (cancerous) cells are found in the mesothelium, a protective sac that covers most of the body's internal organs. Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles.

What is the mesothelium?

The mesothelium is a membrane that covers and protects most of the internal organs of the body. It is composed of two layers of cells: One layer immediately surrounds the organ; the other forms a sac around it. The mesothelium produces a lubricating fluid that is released between these layers, allowing moving organs (such as the beating heart and the expanding and contracting lungs) to glide easily against adjacent structures.

The mesothelium has different names, depending on its location in the body. The peritoneum is the mesothelial tissue that covers most of the organs in the abdominal cavity. The pleura is the membrane that surrounds the lungs and lines the wall of the chest cavity. The pericardium covers and protects the heart. The mesothelial tissue surrounding the male internal reproductive organs is called the tunica vaginalis testis. The tunica serosa uteri covers the internal reproductive organs in women.

What is mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma (cancer of the mesothelium) is a disease in which cells of the mesothelium become abnormal and divide without control or order. They can invade and damage nearby tissues and organs. Cancer cells can also metastasize (spread) from their original site to other parts of the body. Most cases of mesothelioma begin in the pleura or peritoneum.

How common is mesothelioma?

Although reported incidence rates have increased in the past 20 years, mesothelioma is still a relatively rare cancer. About 2,000 new cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed in the United States each year. Mesothelioma occurs more often in men than in women and risk increases with age, but this disease can appear in either men or women at any age.

What are the risk factors for mesothelioma?

Working with asbestos is the major risk factor for mesothelioma. A history of asbestos exposure at work is reported in about 70 percent to 80 percent of all cases. However, mesothelioma has been reported in some individuals without any known exposure to asbestos.

Asbestos is the name of a group of minerals that occur naturally as masses of strong, flexible fibers that can be separated into thin threads and woven. Asbestos has been widely used in many industrial products, including cement, brake linings, roof shingles, flooring products, textiles, and insulation. If tiny asbestos particles float in the air, especially during the manufacturing process, they may be inhaled or swallowed, and can cause serious health problems. In addition to mesothelioma, exposure to asbestos increases the risk of lung cancer, asbestosis (a noncancerous, chronic lung ailment), and other cancers, such as those of the larynx and kidney.

Smoking does not appear to increase the risk of mesothelioma. However, the combination of smoking and asbestos exposure significantly increases a person's risk of developing cancer of the air passageways in the lung.

Karen Brown

http://asbestos-attorney-mesothelioma.net/

Asbestos laws protect people from the harmful consequences of asbestos exposure. Asbestos exposure at dangerous levels can lead to asbestosis- a build up of scar tissue in the lungs. This results from inhaling asbestos fibers that interrupt normal lung functioning and can finally lead to death or disability. Mesothelioma cancer is a severe and in most cases deadly cancer and the main reason for its occurrence is asbestos exposure. In most cases it takes a large time to diagnose the illness and hence the survival time for mesothelioma victims is extremely short; on average a patient has only one more year to live. Asbestos law allows a victim to recover medical expenses, lost income, and compensation for pain and suffering from his employer. If a victim has died because of asbestos related disease, asbestos law also permits the victim's family to recover damages related to the injury.

Asbestos laws give certain guidelines to determine permissible exposure levels for asbestos in the workplace: 0.1 fibers per cubic centimeter for an eight hour work period and one fiber per cubic centimeter in any given thirty minute time period. The law also enforces on the employers the need to conduct frequent exposure monitoring and create regulated work areas. Under asbestos law, the employers must also provide their employees with protective respiratory and clothing equipment, adequate hygiene facilities, training on how to safely work with asbestos and routine health exams in case they are at a risk of being exposed to asbestos.
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