Before we get started, let's first have a look at the term and make sure that we are all on the same page: asbestos poisoning is a medical condition of a human being that was exposed to the material and shows symptoms of toxicity.

When the asbestos particles or fibers are being inhaled or ingested, the effect on one's health can be devastating and fatal. This material is highly toxic in its pure form.
Unfortunately, most of the time people are actually unaware of the fact that they might have been exposed to asbestos and therefore inhaled or even swallowed the substance unnoticed.

Secondly, unlike other toxic materials, symptoms of asbestos poisoning don't occur right away. Since the asbestos particles and fibers are microscopically small, they can remain undetected in the air for a long time. A person is poisoned by asbestos if his body is incapable of getting rid of the substance naturally. As a consequence a person may develop either on of the following diseases: Mesothelioma, Asbestosis, kidney cancer and lung cancer.

Asbestosis basically clogs up the lungs. The previously inhaled asbestos particles stick to the lung tissue which makes it inflexible. That hinders the lung to perform normally and absorb oxygen. Over course of time, the disease keeps progressing gradually. The capacity of the lungs shrinks to a minimum.

Mesothelioma works slightly different and is by far more severe. Asbestos fibers get attached to the mesothelium, a very thing layer on the inside of the chest and abdominal organs. It is a form of cancer with a poor prognosis. Mesothelioma is the most common kind of asbestos induced cancers.

Another form of cancer that works similarly to mesothelioma is lung cancer. All asbestos induced diseases have an unusual latency period. The time between a person getting in contact with the material and first signs of asbestos poisoning surface can span from twenty to forty years. Which means that for instance, someone who was exposed to asbestos on his job working on a construction site or manufacturing company in his early thirties, may not show any symptoms of asbestos poisoning before he retires.

The problem with asbestos poisoning is the fact, that its symptoms are very similar to a number of other diseases such as pneumonia for example. This makes the diagnosis very difficult and unfortunately, often an asbestos caused disease remains unnoticed until it has already developed into a severe health problem.