Asbestos Exposure, Mesothelioma & Lung Cancer Risk

This page is for anyone who thinks they were exposed to asbestos at work, at home, or through a family member. It covers what to do now, which cancers are linked to asbestos, and why the timeline is so long.

Three things are worth doing, in order:

1. Tell your clinician. Give as much detail as you can remember about when, where and for how long.
2. If you smoke, ask your care team about quitting. NCI notes that quitting lowers lung cancer risk in people exposed to asbestos.
3. Know which symptoms to report without waiting:
   • shortness of breath, wheezing or hoarseness
   • a cough that gets worse over time
   • chest pain
   • trouble swallowing
   • unexplained weight loss

NCI says chest x-rays and lung function tests are used to look for asbestos-related disease. Ask your clinician what makes sense for you. Getting the exposure on record helps new symptoms get looked at promptly, rather than written off as age or a bad chest cold. If you have severe trouble breathing or chest pain that is sudden or severe, call 911.

Asbestos is the name for six natural minerals that split into thin, tough fibers. Those fibers resist heat and are strong. EPA says that is why asbestos has been used in insulation, vinyl flooring, roofing shingles, textured paint, pipe wrapping, furnaces and automobile parts. There are two families. Serpentine asbestos is chrysotile. Amphibole asbestos covers crocidolite, amosite, tremolite, actinolite and anthophyllite.

EPA says fibers may be released into the air when asbestos-containing material is disturbed during product use, demolition, building or home maintenance, repair and remodeling.

NCI, citing IARC, says asbestos causes mesothelioma and cancers of the lung, larynx and ovary. There is limited evidence for stomach, pharynx and colorectal cancers. Asbestos also causes asbestosis, a lung condition that is not cancer but can cause breathing difficulty and permanent damage.

NCI lists asbestos as a known human carcinogen. That is a statement that it can cause cancer, not a measure of how much risk you personally carry. NCI names dose, duration of exposure, fiber type and source as key variables.

It can take 10 to 40 years or more between exposure and the first symptoms. That delay explains a lot of what feels confusing about asbestos. People feel fine for decades. Diagnoses arrive long after a job ended. And family members turn out to have been exposed secondhand, from fibers carried home on work clothes, without ever knowing it.

A useful response to a long delay is a lasting record of the exposure and a low threshold for reporting symptoms.

NCI says the combination of smoking and asbestos exposure is particularly hazardous: lung cancer risk is greater than the two individual risks added together. NCI notes evidence that quitting smoking lowers lung cancer risk in exposed workers. Ask your care team about help to quit, and whether you qualify for lung cancer screening.

US consumption fell from roughly 803,000 metric tons in 1973 to about 360 metric tons in 2015. The 1989 EPA rule banned new uses, but uses that began before 1989 were still allowed. In 2024 EPA finalized a ban on ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos, phased in over time. The rule does not remove asbestos already installed in older buildings. Before remodeling or repair work that could disturb suspect material, ask a qualified professional about testing and handling.

• NCI — Asbestos Exposure and Cancer Risk
• EPA — Learn About Asbestos
• EPA — Final ban on ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos (2024)