ABSTRACT
Asbestos dust inhalation has been linked to increased risk of cancer of the lungs, esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, kidneys, pleura, and peritoneum. In shipyards and other places where asbestos products were extensively used, mesothelioma has occurred not only in all the trades that worked around the asbestos, but also among secretaries and psychologists. Physicians at Britain’s Department of Employment reported a number of “non-occupational asbestos exposure histories obtained in cases of mesothelioma.” Chrysotile asbestos air pollution has been detected during dry, windy weather, emanating from asbestos-cement roofing tiles. Workers and their unions have insisted that employers adhere to the workplace regulations, pay premium rates for the hazardous work, and stop using asbestos. In the courts, several thousand victims of asbestosis and cancer have so far sued the industry for knowingly marketing deadly products while making no effort to inform product users of the time-bomb danger of breathing asbestos dust.
