According to the CDC, there are more than 4800 deaths each year that come from asbestos-related cancer. This number represents 4% of the total fatalities in the US that get connected to cancer of the lungs. Most cancer-related deaths are a result of smoking.
Asbestos is a group of chemicals that were formally used in the building of houses to help with heat retention during the cold seasons of the year. Asbestos is recently not being used by many companies because researchers found out that inhaling large amounts of the asbestos fibers for a long leads to asbestos cancer. Other than mesothelioma and lung cancer, asbestos has high links to various other fatal diseases.
More often, mesothelioma is known as asbestos cancer in layman’s terms. It represents several other cancers that result from consistent asbestos exposure either at work or at home. According to the World Health Organization, about half or more of all occupational cancer deaths are due to asbestos and thus there is a need to control exposure to these chemicals.
Asbestos cancers result from the ingestion or inhalation of toxic asbestos fibers. When the fibers get into the body of an individual, they cause changes to the genetic make of the healthy mesothelial cells.
With time, the mesothelial cells have damage in their DNA causing cancer. While lung cancers can be due to several things, including exposure to radon and smoking cigarettes, mesothelioma cancer is due to exposure to asbestos. People who get exposed to asbestos are at a higher risk of developing lung cancer than smokers.