In an article entitled ‘Asbestos: the killer that still surrounds us’, The Telegraph recently reported on the continuing dangers posed by asbestos and mesothelioma.
The full article can be read here. It gives a valuable insight into the perilous dangers of asbestos and its continuing threat to the nation’s health.
Mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases
Asbestos was once considered a ‘miraculous’ building material. It was many years before its lethal properties were discovered.
Exposure to asbestos can lead to mesothelioma, a very distinct cancer caused, in almost every case, by the inhalation of the fibrous building material. Asbestos fibres, when inhaled become embedded in the pleura, the lining of the lungs. The fibres irritate the pleura and can cause cell mutations. Over the course of years (usually decades) this can develop into cancer, mesothelioma. When diagnosed, mesothelioma usually takes hold quickly and most people die within a year of diagnosis.
Other asbestos related diseases include asbestosis and pleural plaques.
Britain is today at the peak of the mesothelioma epidemic, with more deaths here than anywhere else in the world.
Where is asbestos found?
Asbestos can be found in buildings virtually everywhere in the British Isles.
Although the most dangerous type of asbestos has not been used here since the 1960’s it is still widely prevalent. When it was being regularly used as a building material, people in specific industries worked closely with it. These included pipe laggers, builders, carpenters and shipyard workers.
All types of asbestos were banned by law in 1999, but the dangers live on. The asbestos threat is not simply posed to those unfortunate workers who initially used the material before the full horrors were known. They may be considered the group most ‘at risk’ of developing mesothelioma, but it is also those who have been employed to remove the product and those that work in buildings where asbestos is present. Buildings such as schools, hospitals, industrial units, shipyards, offices and factories are all places where you would be likely to find asbestos. Asbestos can also be present in people’s dwellings. We are therefore all in close proximity to asbestos in one way or another.
The removal of asbestos is considered by some to present more danger than its initial insertion. As the Telegraph article makes clear, the danger posed is ever present and all around us.
Claiming Compensation
Millions of people in this country have been exposed to asbestos at work from the 1930s to the 1970s and right through to the present day. Many employers and other responsible parties who knew of the dangers of working with asbestos have failed adequately protect employees, the employees’ families or members of the public from being exposed to dust or fibres that are associated with asbestos. As a consequence people have developed mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases as a direct result of negligence and are entitled to compensation.
If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos related illness such as asbestos induced lung cancer, asbestosis or pleural plaques then you may be able to claim compensation for the illness you have suffered. We deal with these claims on a fully funded, no win – no fee basis. This means that if you don’t win, then we don’t charge, so you have nothing to lose. Call us on Freephone 0333 888 0404.
