How to Diagnose Asbestos Poisoning

Search your work history for repeated exposure to friable asbestos. For asbestos to become a poison, it must be in a breathable type. Friable asbestos easily crumbles and the tiny featherweight particles quickly disperse within the air. Some examples of friable asbestos are blown-in padding around pipes, acoustical ceiling panels and wallboard as well as joint compound manufactured before 1978. Although now banned with this form, many homes still contain this dangerous sheet.

Compare your symptoms to your work history should you suffered exposure to friable insulation on an continuing basis. Keep in mind that you may not suffer the ill side effects for several years.

Consider asbestos disease as an explanation for medical symptoms including difficulty drawing a full breath or exhaling completely, along with a chronic cough. This is a typical first symptom of asbestos poisoning but since additionally, it mimics many other respiratory diseases, it may proceed undiagnosed until other symptoms appear.

Pay attention if others mention that you simply sound a little hoarse. In the early stages the hoarseness will come and go but it will gradually worsen when the cause is asbestos poisoning.

Suspect asbestos poisoning when the above symptoms appear within 20 years of prolonged contact with friable asbestos and medications for respiratory infections and flu symptoms haven't cleared up the problem. In addition, coughing upward blood, weight loss or chest pain, suggests the asbestos disease might have developed into mesothelioma.

Schedule an appointment with a physician who knows testing for asbestos poisoning and the cancers associated with the disease. The doctor will record your work history and will order pulmonary function tests in addition to chest x-rays. If he suspects an asbestos illness or mesothelioma, he will likely order a Computerized Tomography Scan (CT scan) to create an accurate diagnosis.