Asbestos and Its Toxicological Concern

Abstract

phagocytosis. Further longer fibers are cleared only after fragmentation, splitting or dissolution and retained in the lungs for a long time. Due to the differences in structure and length, chrysotile has high affinity to be deposited in the upper airways of the respiratory tract and also cleared efficiently from the lungs compared with amphibole fibers [3]. Shorter fibers retained in the lungs for prolonged periods and further they penetrate the epithelial cells into the lymphatic system or the blood and simultaneously reach kidney and gets excreted. Asbestos enter into a person by breathing and deposited in lung tissues and accumulates over time and causes irritation, scarring and inflammation and eventually produces severe health implications [49]. Therefore, asbestos has been classified as human carcinogens. A history of asbestos exposure at occupational exposure is reported in about 70% to 80% of all cases of mesothelioma (a rare type of cancer of the mesothelium-the membrane that covers and protects most of the internal organs of the body). The main symptoms of mesothelioma of the lungs are shortness of breath, chest pain and abdominal mesothelioma include weight loss, swelling and pain in the abdomen, blood clotting abnormalities, bowel obstruction, anemia and fever. Continued exposure to high levels of asbestos in the occupational exposure scenario can also cause asbestosis (e.g., disease that can lead to disability and death and it scars the lungs and can cause the heart to enlarge). The primary symptoms of asbestosis are shortness of breath, persistent cough that produces mucus, chest tightness, chest pain, loss of appetite, dry, crackling sound in the lungs while inhaling followed by lung cancer with the symptoms of cough (including coughing up blood), wheezing, unexplained weight loss, difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, hoarseness and anemia. Clinical signs and symptoms of asbestosis include basal crackles on auscultation, dyspnea, cough and abnormal gas exchange, which may ultimately lead to death. The prolonged asbestos fiber particle exposure is associated with severe health illnesses including pulmonary fibrosis, bronchogenic carcinoma, diffuse malignant, parenchymal asbestosis (prolonged inflammatory response stimulated by the presence of fibres in the lung, leading to fibrosis of the lung parenchyma and permanent damage to the lung system), mesothelioma of the pleura and peritoneum, pleural abnormalities such as effusions (excessive fluid collections in lung tissues and chest cavity), pleural plaques/thickening (changes in lung membrane and visceral pleura and discrete fibrous or calcified thickened areas that arise from the surface of the parietal pleura which is observed in 20 to 60 percent of the occupationally exposed