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Mesothelioma Continued Mesothelioma is a very deadly form of cancer. The lifespan of a person who has this disease is about 2 years from the time they are diagnosed until the time death takes them. It targets about 3000 people each year. These people work in factories, shipyards, mines and other profession of the sort. They all have one thing in common: they are hard working people who come home dirty and tired. They provide for their families by going to work everyday in grueling conditions just so their son can play soccer or their daughter can take ballet lessons. These are everyday people who have done nothing wrong; nothing more than go to work everyday to earn a paycheck. Mesothelioma is not curable but it is preventable. It is caused by asbestos. Asbestos is a mineral that is used in building construction materials. It is used for insulation and fire-retardant. The Environmental Protection Agency has banned many asbestos products. Manufacturers have voluntarily limited asbestos use. Today, asbestos is most commonly found in older homes with pipe and furnace insulation materials, asbestos shingles, millboard, textured paints and floor tiles. Attempting to remove these materials improperly can release asbestos fibers into the homes through the air vents, increasing asbestos levels and endangering people living in those homes. The sad part about all this is that many companies knew the harmful effects of asbestos for years and did nothing about it. They knew the effects asbestos had on the body, they knew all the effects and the harm it would cause and still they chose to do nothing and keep quiet. Why? It was all about money to these companies. They would rather make a profit than to get rid of this deadly product and lose money. It is amazing how cruel and cold hearted some people can be at the expense of others. So why did people get away with this for do long? Mesothelioma has what is called a latency period. That is the period of time from when someone is exposed to asbestos until the time they first become ill. Now that latency period is 20 to 30 years. That is a long time for someone to walk around this earth with a disease that is destroying his or her body. Moreover, the sad fact is the company they worked so hard for knew about it and did absolutely nothing. Now we cannot of course blame every single company for this unfortunate downfall. There are companies who knew about the dangers of asbestos and did everything in their power to get rid of the hazardous materials so their workers could work in a safe and healthy environment. Now even though this happened, workers will still exposed to asbestos but at least the company acknowledged the hazardous conditions and did something about it All Text Copyright © Safety2005.org |
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