<a rel="nofollow" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href= > Asbestos</a>, a known cause of mesothelioma, remains a health risk for 1.3 million workers more than 30 years after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) banned its use in wallboard patching compounds, gas fireplaces, and electric hair dryers and other products.

Asbestos came into use in the late 1800s, but its use accelerated during WWII with the production of war ships, planes, vehicles, supplies and equipment. The health risks of asbestos began affecting women as they moved into manufacturing jobs formerly held by the men, then fighting in the war. Women are more susceptible to cancer than men, and the risk of mesothelioma in women now equaled, or exceeded that of men who worked in these fields.

What wasn’t known then is that workers brought the risk of asbestos-related disease home with them on their clothing, skin and hair. A simple hug could transmit the dangerous fibers to family. Women who did their husbands’ laundry were exposed as they shook out clothes to wash.

It wasn’t until 1989 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned all new uses of asbestos, allowing uses established prior to 1989 to remain in place. These uses include building insulation, brakes, textiles and manufacturers who use asbestos in their products.

Employees who are likely to be exposed include those whose jobs involve:

• manufacture of products such as textiles, friction products. Insulation, building materials<br>

• firefighters<br>

• automobile workers<br>

• asbestos mining and milling<br>

• shipbuilding<br>

• building renovation or demolition (drywall removal, insulation work) <br>

• roofing<br>

• fireproofing<br>

• sound absorption<br>

• ceiling and floor tiles<br>

• paints<br>

• coatings<br>

• adhesives<br>

• plastics<br>

• vermiculite (commonly used in gardening) <br>

Less obvious exposure comes through the manufacture of or exposure to:

• crayons<br>

• cosmetics<br>

• talcum powder, including baby powder<br>

• deodorants<br>

• kitchen appliances<br>

• potholders<br>

• hair dryers<br>

• electric blankets<br>

• homes and other buildings built before 1980<br>

• older school and government buildings<br>

• living near power plants<br>

Although exposure risk from using crayons was determined to be extremely low by the CSPC in 2000, manufacturers have eliminated the use of talc entirely from their production. Vermiculite use is safer when consumers limit the amount of dust they create by keeping it damp and keeping it off their clothing, or using premixed potting soil.

Use of asbestos in the U.S. has dropped significantly, the ban on asbestos use in electric hairdryers being only one example. But many people used these products regularly prior to the 1990s. In 1973 domestic use of asbestos was about 803,000 metric tons. By 2005 this use dropped to about 2,400 metric tons.

While the risks of exposure have dropped significantly over the years, they do exist for many workers. An estimated 70%-80% of <a rel="nofollow" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href= >mesothelioma cases</a> are associated with work exposure. Of these, the majority are pleural mesothelioma, involving the lining that encases the lungs. Pleural mesothelioma results from inhaling asbestos fibers that work their way through the lung tissue to this lining. About 20% involves peritoneal mesothelioma, the lining encasing the abdominal organs. Peritoneal mesothelioma results from swallowing fibers in water sources or that remained in saliva during breathing.

One more source of asbestos was forced upon people living and working in New York when the 9/11 attack brought down the Twin Towers. The dust from that disaster contaminated the air for miles around, and for months afterward. Certainly the asbestos contaminants from this event will affect many in the years to come.