Before characterizing the risks attributed to asbestos exposure, it is helpful to understand the relationship that exists between risk and probability. Risk is the probability of an event multiplied by the consequence. Hence, if the consequence is very large, such as developing a disease, the risk will be high even if the probability is very…
Category: Asbestos Risk Assessment
The aim of this paper is to investigate the hazard, exposure, and toxicity associated with asbestos fibres as a model to assess the risks it poses on human health and public safety. For this purpose, information acquired from research that has explored aspects of asbestos were collectively integrated and analyzed in an unbiased, scientific approach. It was discovered that people who are constantly exposed to asbestos dust from work, are family members of the occupationally exposed, or are residents living near factories that utilize asbestos are most susceptible to asbestos exposure. Toxicity assessments revealed that prolonged exposure to asbestos ultimately causes lung tissue scarring, leading to various lung diseases such as asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung cancer. The degree of asbestos potency is highly dependent on chemical composition, size, shape, durability, and clearance. However, a lack of consistent information provided in literature that indicate these factors, along with information based on sampling size, duration and amount of exposure, air sampling techniques, and appropriate controls, continue to plague stakeholders from reaching appropriate conclusions based on the risks identified. Finally, despite the success of asbestos monitoring methods and risk communication via the mass media in reducing the use and production of asbestos, asbestos is still a major public health concern. Consequently, more involvement from the academic community is still needed to precisely quantify the probability and characterize the risks of exposure in order to fill in the knowledge gaps that remain uncertain for both the hazard and exposure aspect of the risk equation.
Introduction
Risk perception is a subjective judgment that assessors make to characterize the severity of a risk before deciding its priority (Bebbington et al., 2001). When a certain hazard is imminent in the environment and is expected to spread beyond a particular safety boundary, it can quickly modify a stakeholder’s perception of risk, especially if it threatens…
Risk Communication
Risk information is often communicated to the public through the workplace, the media, and personal experience. For the mass media, news about risks can easily gain one’s attention, even when the risk news story is incomplete. Illnesses associated with asbestos exposure are often communicated in daytime television commercials. Mesothelioma lawyers advertise their service by discussing…
Toxicity Assessment
Despite reductions in use and production worldwide, the risk of asbestos-related illnesses is still a major health concern, especially since vast amounts of asbestos-containing products were manufactured, processed, and used over the past century (Kamp, 2009) and its long latency period that averages between 35 to 40 years from initial exposure to the first appearing…
Exposure Assessment
To assess the level of asbestos toxicity on human health, exposure assessments using models and simulations must be integrated as a starting point in understanding the short-term and long-term effects to which it contributes. For nearly a century, the presence of asbestos fibres lingering in the air has been acknowledged as a health hazard by…
Conclusion
Although the word asbestos means different things to different people, as suggested at the beginning of this document, one definition that all parties can agree on is the established fact that asbestos exposure has the potential to cause severe adverse human health effects over prolonged periods of exposure. Asbestos exposure assessments clearly indicate that fibres are omnipresent,…
References
Arblaster, L., Gobbs, A., Hatton, P., Howel, D., Pooley, F., Schweiger, M., Renvoize, E., & Swinburne, L. (1999). Mineral fibre analysis and routes of exposure to asbestos in the development of mesothelioma in an English region. Occupational& EnvironmentalMedicine, 56: 51–58. ATSDR: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (1995). Toxicological Profile for Asbestos. U.S. Department of Health & Human…