How Can Asbestos Enter And Leave The Body? Asbestos can be inhaled or ingested. The use of asbestos commercially and in mining began in the late 1800s because of its ability to resist heat, fire, chemical and biological degradation. Asbestos does not dissolve in water or evaporate either, and all these properties made the use of asbestos even more widespread during World War II. Soon, asbestos was commonly used in many industries, including building, construction, shipbuilding, automotive and many other manufacturing processes.
Entire mining towns, most notably Libby, Montana, were affected by heavy exposure to asbestos pollution. Workers in industries that used asbestos heavily in the manufacturing processes would inhale and ingest the asbestos fibers and then bring the fibers on their clothing and shoes back into the family vehicles and homes, endangering people that came into contact with them. The workers were unaware of the dangers of asbestos, so in the absence of workplace standards, there were no precautionary measures taken to prevent dangerous exposure.
Asbestos containing products still surround people on a regular basis. They are in our homes, our workplaces, our schools, our communities, but as long as the materials are not disrupted and the fibers are not released, the risks are contained. Still, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, an estimated 1.3 million employees in construction and general industry face significant asbestos exposure on the job. The heaviest exposures occur in the construction industry, specifically during the removal of asbestos during renovation or demolition. During the process of manufacturing asbestos products, workers can also be exposed.
Once asbestos fibers are breathed into the lungs, some of the fibers will be deposited in the air passages and on the cells making up the lungs. Although some fibers are removed from the lungs through mucus, they are then swallowed and enter the stomach. Some of the fibers that do not leave the lungs can remain for years, or even for life. The ability for asbestos fibers to hook onto the lungs forever makes exposure so dangerous.
Before asbestos dangers were known, workers unaware of the risks would take lunch and snack breaks in the working environment where asbestos fibers were flying around. If ingested, either because the fibers are on food or in water, the fibers can penetrate into cells that line the stomach or intestines. Sometimes the fibers can penetrate so far they enter the blood or are trapped in other tissues. When ingested, some of the asbestos fibers will pass along the intestines and will be extracted in urine and in feces.
Health effects suffered because of inhalation of asbestos fibers are linked to lung disease, cancers, asbestosis and mesothelioma. It is unclear what the effects of ingesting asbestos fibers are, though there seems to be higher than average death rates from cancer of the esophagus, stomach and intestines of people exposed to asbestos fibers in their drinking water.
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