Asbestos is a naturally occurring fiber that has been mined for over a hundred years. The first commercial asbestos mine opened in Quebec, Canada in the late 1800s. Asbestos is a mineral fiber that has been used commercially in many different products including construction, insulation and fireproofing materials.
Asbestos fibers are aerodynamic and so small that one fiber cannot be seen by the naked eye. By the 1930s, researchers studying industrial disease realized that if workers could see dust from asbestos products in the air, those workers were being exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos fibers. When workers saw asbestos dust floating in the air in their workspace, that dust cloud probably contained millions of dangerous asbestos fibers.
The primary danger from asbestos is from breathing in asbestos fibers into the lungs. Asbestos dust is easily inhaled into the lungs because asbestos fibers are so small and aerodynamic. Once inhaled, some asbestos fibers will remain in the body forever. Over long periods of time, inhaled asbestos fibers can cause life-threatening and fatal diseases including mesothelioma, other asbestos cancers and asbestosis.
Researchers have not determined a safe level of exposure to asbestos. However, scientists and doctors have determined that the greater and longer the exposure to asbestos, the higher the risk of suffering asbestos-related diseases.
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