Firefighters And Mesothelioma, Asbestos Exposure For Firefighters Simmons Hanly Conroy

Why are firefighters at risk of mesothelioma.

Free adult pages. According to the national institute for occupational safety and health firefighters contract mesothelioma at twice the rate of the rest of the us. Asbestos is a durable mineral thats resistant to heat water and sound which made it a choice building material throughout most of the 20th century. Firefighters regularly put themselves in dangerous environments with poor air quality.

Get a free veterans packet. Mesothelioma and firefighters. There are three varieties of mesothelioma that are most common and each of these exhibit similar warning signs.

Firefighters are subjected to asbestos exposure on the job. Asbestos is the only known cause of mesothelioma which is an asbestos cancer that affects around 3000 americans each year. Firefighters may develop mesothelioma if asbestos fibers get lodged in the lining of the lungs abdomen or other organs.

In particular mesothelioma a form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure remains a top concern for the firefighting profession. Why firefighters are at risk. Firefighters are at risk of inhaling a plethora of dangerous toxins including asbestos.

They often fight fires in buildings that have asbestos components. The research showed that firefighters had a mesothelioma incidence rate that was twice as high as the general public due to increased levels of asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma usually does not develop until from 20 to 40 years or more from the victims first exposure to asbestos.

Firefighters are at risk of developing mesothelioma if they come in contact with asbestos the only known cause of this cancer. In fact this is nearly unavoidable since millions of homes office buildings schools libraries and workplaces across the united states contain asbestos in hundreds of forms. The mesothelioma symptoms many not be noticeable until many years after the firefighter has been exposed and include pain and difficulty breathing hoarseness coughing up blood difficulty swallowing andor pain in the lower back or on the side of the chest.

Firefighters are more likely to develop the pleural form of the disease which severely impacts breathing and will eventually prove fatal.