Asbestos Time Bomb: Thousands Facing Risk Of Lung Cancer
Thousands of people are facing the risk of a devastating time bomb called asbestos. A recently concluded research shows that thousands of individuals could still breathe under the lethal asbestos fibre. According to the report by the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer), all varieties of asbestos can cause cancer – includes the white asbestos, which is many a times considered to be less hazardous as compared to brown and blue varieties.
Until 1970’s through white asbestos was used in schools, offices, council houses and public properties. Doctors warned that the impact of asbestos cancer as a ticking time-bomb because the cancer symptoms often being detected 40 - 50 years after the patient first contact with asbestos related products.
In the worst scenario, asbestos can cause mesothelioma, a type cancer which damages the lungs and for which no cure has been found till now. This type of cancer is most prevalent in the North East as 1 in every 10 individuals who have died from this type cancer have lived or worked in the North East.
Consultant chest physician Dr.Allcock working in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, says that up to ninety thousand or more people could be fatalities of mesothelioma in United Kingdom by around 2025.
Mr. McFall chief operating officer of the asbestos policies at Thompson Solicitors in Newcastle, England said that: It was essential for those who were working amid asbestos or those who lived and worked in environments where asbestos was there should be made aware of the hazards of this particularly treacherous substance and should be given ample training on the means to work with it safely without any hazards.
Mr. McFall further added that this hazardous material is accountable for more than 2,000 people getting diagnosed with mesothelimia every year in the United Kingdom.