The word “asbestos” comes from Latin and means “non-combustible”. This is the way a group of six fibrous minerals is called, which exists in the environment in a natural form. The asbestos’ minerals have long and strong separable and quite flexible fibers, which are criss crossed and hot proof.

Due to these characteristics the asbestos has been utilized for a wide range of manufactured products, mainly for construction materials (tiling for flooring and roofs, paper products and asbestos’ cement), friction products (car’s clutches brake and transmission pieces), and hot proof cloths.

The exposition to asbestos generally occur breathing contaminated air in workplaces that produce or use it. The asbestos is present also in buildings whose walls are being repaired.

Diseases provoked by the asbestos can appear even after some years of stop being exposed to it. The asbestos penetrates into the organism through the respiratory system. When the asbestos’ powder is inhaled, the fibers can reach the lungs remaining there and becoming later into a constant irritation that ends in the alteration and destruction of the pulmonary tissue. The interaction between the asbestos and tobacco is remarkable for it increases the probabilities of getting lung cancer.

There are some individual genetic factors, not yet identified, which determined that some exposed to asbestos workers get ill and some do not. Therefore, prevention is a must!