Occupational Exposure to Asbestos

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History
Occupational disease is defined as the disease that arises from the situations to which a specific type of worker is exposed, and the disease must be acquired as a natural incident of a particular occupation. Asbestos which was used extensively till the early 1980s across main industries is one such agent which can cause severe health hazards to the workers that are exposed to it. Although almost everyone is exposed to it; as it is present in low levels in air, water, and soil, the health effects are usually only seen in people exposed to it for a longer duration of time mainly at a job site (Asbestos Exposure and Cancer Risk).
Asbestos is a group of minerals occurring in the nature as thin, durable fibers that are resistant to heat, fire, chemicals, and they do not conduct electricity. Asbestos has been mined and used in many industries like construction, automotive, and ship building. These asbestos minerals are divided into two major groups, the serpentine asbestos and the amphibole asbestos. Serpentine asbestos is the form that is mostly used in commercial applications. Amphibole can stay in the lungs for a longer time and hence considered more harmful among the two (Asbestos Exposure and Cancer Risk).
Asbestos has been used commercially in the United States since the 1800s, with its use the greatest between1930s and 1970s. Asbestos was used mainly in building and construction industries for insulation, roofing, fireproofing, for strengthening cement and plastics, and for sound absorption. It is also used in shipbuilding to insulate boilers, steam and hot water pipes. Automotive industry uses asbestos for clutch pads and vehicle brake pads. Other uses of asbestos have been in ceiling and floor tiles, paints, coa...

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...stos-facts-statistics.htm
Beckett, W. S., O'Reilly, K. M., & Mclaughliin, A. M. (2007, March 1). Asbestos-Related Lung Disease. American Family Physician, 683-688.
Elmes, P. (1977). Investigation into the hazardous use of asbestos. Northern Ireland 1960-76. Ulster Med J, 71-80.
OSHA Fact Sheet. (2002). Retrieved from Asbestos: https://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_AsbestosFacts/asbestos-factsheet.pdf
Selikoff, I. (1976). Lung cancer and mesothelioma during prospective surveillance of 1249 asbestos insulation workers. N.Y.Acad.Sci, 448-456.
Selikoff, I., Hammond, E., & Siedman, H. (1979). Mortality experience of insulation workers in the United States and Canada. Ann.N.Y.Acad.Sci., 91-116.
State of Lung Disease in Diverse Communities 2010. (2010). American Lung Association. Retrieved from
http://www.lung.org/assets/documents/publications/lung-disease-data/solddc_2010.pdf

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