An Introduction To The Dangers Of Asbestos

Chances are that you have heard of asbestos at some point in your life, and you have probably heard that it is extremely dangerous. However, you might not know exactly why that is. To help you out in learning about this health hazard, here is an introduction to the subject:

What is asbestos?

Asbestos is a material that occurs in nature and is made up of several types of minerals. For many years, asbestos was used as insulation in homes since it is an extremely good insulator and fairly cheap. For this reason, you might want to have your home inspected if it was built before the 1970's, since there is a good chance that some asbestos was used in the construction process. It was at this point that asbestos was banned in a wide variety of home applications.

Why is asbestos dangerous?

Unfortunately, asbestos is also carcinogenic and extremely dangerous to lungs in general. Inhaling asbestos particles can leave them trapped inside your longs for an extremely long period of time, which can lead to potentially irreversible damage.

In general, the threat of asbestos rises as the duration of exposure and size of dosage increase. The longer that you are exposed to asbestos and the more asbestos that there is, the more that your lungs are likely to be damaged. However, other factors can influence your health risks, including whether or not you smoke, predisposition to lung disease, and exactly what kind of asbestos you were exposed to.

How should you handle potential asbestos exposure?

In many cases, being exposed to asbestos for a short period at a low dosage won't hurt you. However, if you did live in a house with asbestos for a long time, then you might want to talk to a doctor. Asbestos exposure can cause a wide variety of lung conditions and diseases, most of which can be easily detected by a doctor. If such a disease is detected, then there is a good chance that your doctor can help ease the symptoms, if not eliminate them completely.

Of course, if you don't know that your home contains asbestos, yet have some suspicions, then scheduling an asbestos inspection is a good idea. Inspection teams, like Hutzel & Associates, Inc, initially check several elements of your home, including the air and material in the walls. If they do detect asbestos, then you will want to have a full inspection, where your house is thoroughly analyzed to determine where the asbestos is and how much they are dealing with.

The removal of asbestos can be a somewhat long and expensive process, but the health benefits are often worth the cost. After all, removing asbestos will likely be a lot cheaper than paying for treatment of lung diseases, especially if multiple people in your household are affected.

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