Mesothelioma Is a Form of Lung Cancer

Studies show that smokers who were exposed to asbestos are at grave risk of lung cancer

According tot he Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, breathing asbestos fibers will damage the lungs or the linings of the chest wall. In some cases, this leads to asbestos-related illness like asbestosis and some very aggressive lung cancers like mesothelioma.

Studies have shown that cigarette smoking and exposure to asbestos are both very harmful to your health. The risk of lung cancer greatly increases when you smoke cigarettes and are exposed to asbestos.

Cigarette smoking weakens the lungs and decreases their ability to remove asbestos fibers. Cigarette smoke also irritates air passages, causing them to produce more mucus. These effects block the passage of air and further decrease the removal of asbestos fibers from

While a smoker may have a 10-20 times greater chance of getting lung cancer than a non-smoker, a smoker who works around asbestos has up to a 84-times-greater chance of getting lung cancer or mesothelioma. The longer you are exposed to asbestos, and the higher the amount of the exposure, the greater your chances for getting lung cancer.

Companies that used asbestos have known about the link between asbestos exposure and smoking for decades but, instead of warning their workers about this extreme risk, they chose to ignore the dangers.

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with lung cancer or mesothelioma and worked around asbestos, even if this person smoked, please contact us right away.