Asbestos is a term for a group of minerals that occur naturally as masses of strong, flexible fibers that can be cut into very thin threads and fibers. It has been used commercially since the late 1800s in many industrial products like cement, brake linings, roof shingles, flooring products, textiles and insulation. It was greatly increased during the World War II and since then over a million Americans have been exposed to asbestos particles. Diseases caused by exposure to these particles only appear 10 years later after handling asbestos for the first time. So it was not until the early 1900s that a large number of workers developed symptoms.

Manufacturers of asbestos related products despite knowledge of the dangers posed by exposure to this mineral continued to place workers at risk. Asbestos has been studied to be a human carcinogen, and documents show that breathing asbestos fibers has been a major occupational hazard.

Asbestos companies deliberately hid this information, conspiring amongst themselves to deceive consumers by releasing fake medical tests illustrating the use of their products as safe. Yet doctors who made their own investigations on the health problems experienced by workers in asbestos companies pursued through the years by publishing articles on their findings. But it was not until 1971 that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) set the limit for acceptable levels of asbestos exposure in the workplace.

Sadly, it was too late for those whose lives were already claimed by this deadly disease. These are the lives of hardworking men and women who have labored for practically a lifetime to provide for their families. These are people who work in shipyards and mines. And people whose professions are engineers, steel workers and auto mechanics. As they struggled everyday to feed their families they were unaware of the hazards of asbestos that would eventually claim their lives and the lives of their loved ones.

Unwittingly exposing themselves to the dangers of asbestos, these men and women suffered from diseases which are less serious to the deadly ones. Exposure to asbestos causes a variety of diseases from the non-cancerous forms such as asbestosis, to much more fatal ones like lung cancer and the deadliest one which is mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer in which malignant cancerous cells are found in the mesothelium. Mesothelium is a membrane that covers and protects most of the body’s internal organs like the pleura (thoral cavite), peritoneum (abdominal cavity) and pericardium (heart sac). Mesothelioma is three times more common among men than women. Between the ages of 60 to 70 the occurrence is ten times higher compared to men between 30 to 40 years of age.

Mesothelioma has become very prevalent among the population of USA and UK. Its incidence is high as well. ‘Prevalence’ refers to the number of people managing mesothelioma at a given time while ‘incidence’ refers to the number of new cases of mesothelioma diagnosed each year. Take for example flu the typical disease, it has a high annual incidence but a very low prevalence, diabetes however which is a life-long disease has a low annual incidence but high prevalence. Mesothelioma has an alarmingly equal number of prevalence to incidence. To make matters worse the survival rate for people with mesothelioma is very low.

It is estimated that in the next 25 years more and more cases will emerge. Studies indicate further that more than 9 million workers are at risk of this form of disease. In the developed countries it is expected that 100,000 people alive today may die in the next 25 years. There are even studies that would indicate that those exposed to asbestos in the 1940s or 1950s may not experience any symptoms of mesothelioma until this year.

Presently, there is still no known specific cure for mesothelioma. The disease progresses and as time passes the victim experiences difficulty in breathing, eating and even sleeping. Worse, the victim finds himself struggling to even engage in normal activities and enjoy life.

Currently it is not known exactly why and how asbestos fibers cause mesothelial cells to become abnormal (malignant or cancerous). There is no corroborative evidence how much fiber could cause the growth of the tumor. No correlation of any circumstance or amount of exposure could indicate specifically when and how mesothelioma will start. There are instances where the wife developed cancer by merely washing her husband’s clothing - and yet her husband did not get the disease at all. It is noted, however, that fibers in the pleura or sac lining of the chest can start a tumor and could metastasize or spread to nearby organs.

As defined, mesothelioma is a permanent disease that will result to the victim’s death. Regretfully, only a handful of physicians are equipped to handle this disease. And many patients and family members are advised to prepare themselves and just accept the inevitable.

Mesothelioma is a preventable disease if only these asbestos companies took the steps to protect their workers. Now after decades of profiting at the expense of the suffering of men and women who has raked millions of profits for these manufacturers it is their responsibility and therefore must be compelled to compensate these people for their physical, emotional, psychological and financial suffering and the suffering of their loved ones when they are gone.