Asbestos symptoms are usually likely to show up 30 to 50 years after exposure to this dangerous material. The likelihood that you might one day experience these symptoms is highly dependent upon what you did for a living.
There are six job categories that were particularly hazardous regarding asbestos exposure.
If you worked in the ship building industry between World War II and the Korean Conflict then it is a high probability that you were exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos. Since most of those ships used steam engines there was probably a lot of insulation for the boilers and pipes that used this material. It is also a strong possibility that the ship incinerators were insulated as well. The famous actor, Steve McQueen, attributed his mesothelioma to the years he served in the Marines removing dangerous insulation from ship pipes and boilers. When asbestos becomes air born it is known as "friable". No doubt many a ship builder was exposed to high levels of friable asbestos.
A second group of workers is often overlooked by those who study this disease and that group is custodians. Custodians usually work in older buildings where asbestos is very prevalent in walls, boilers and flooring. Most floor tiling made before 1978 contained asbestos and even the mastic that made the tiles stick to the floors. High speed burnishing has the capability of scraping asbestos off of floors and into the air. This is often over looked by attorneys and scientists.
A third group of asbestos symptom sufferers are fire fighters. A classic example would be the fire fighters who worked in rescue efforts after the twin towers collapsed in 2001. They were exposed to tons of debris and some of it was asbestos. This danger has existed for fire fighters for decades.
A fourth job category that was extremely vulnerable were plumbers and electricians. Every time a plumber or electrician had to break a hole in a wall or saw pipes that were asbestos insulated they became a victim of potential exposure. Most folks just don't think about the danger that lurks behind the repair jobs in older homes and businesses.
Group five and six are construction workers and factory workers. Certainly construction workers 30 years ago were inundated with asbestos in sheet rock, adhesives and plasters and factory workers were unknowingly placed in asbestos environments before its dangers were fully understood.
These workers are now experiencing the symptoms.
Asbestos was banned from production in 1975 but the diagnosis are soaring at an increasing rate because of the 30 to 50 year latency period. It is unfortunate that so many innocent and hard working people were in danger and didn't have a clue!
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