Secondary Exposure To Asbestos, Risk Factors For Secondhand Asbestos Exposure

Secondary exposure or indirect exposure can be just as dangerous as firsthand exposure.

Flower coloring sheets for adults. Secondary exposure can also be called secondhand exposure non occupational take home exposure or para occupational exposure. Secondary asbestos exposure is a form of non occupational exposure to asbestos fibers. Secondary exposure also known as secondhand asbestos exposure occurs when blue collar occupations such as construction and factory workers bring home asbestos fibers on their body.

In cases of secondary exposure like these the person who brought home the asbestos fibers the husband and father in our example feels very much to blame. Secondary exposure occurred when people who did not work directly with asbestos were nevertheless exposed to fibers as a result of sharing workspace where others handled asbestos. Clothing is of particular concern since the fabric weave can easily cause asbestos fibers to become entrapped or embedded and family members may have come into contact with the fibers from doing laundry or touching the clothing.

Asbestos exposure may also increase the risk of asbestosis an inflammatory condition affecting the lungs that can cause shortness of breath coughing and permanent lung damage and other nonmalignant lung and pleural disorders including pleural plaques changes in the membranes surrounding the lung pleural thickening and benign pleural effusions abnormal collections of fluid between the thin layers of tissue lining the lungs and the wall of the chest cavity. Secondary exposure to asbestos from contaminated items items or belongings of workers severely exposed to asbestos can create repeated or severe exposures to the carcinogenic fibers. But it is important to remember that they are not to blame.

Take home exposure cases also called secondary bystander or non occupational exposure are anticipated to increase over the coming years and prolong asbestos litigation that has generated hundreds of thousands of claims. Much like direct asbestos exposure it takes decades for mesothelioma to develop. When living with asbestos workers everyday situations can result in exposure to asbestos among household members like hugs or doing the laundry.

If asbestos workers would not change their clothes after arriving home toxic fibers could easily attach to the piece of furniture they were sitting on. Secondary asbestos exposure would also happen when family members were sitting on chairs couches beds or carpets with asbestos fibers embedded in them. This kind of exposure happens when an asbestos worker unknowingly brings asbestos fibers home on their work clothes hair and skin.

Throughout the 20th century in the us men were more likely to work directly with asbestos products.