Given the fact thatwe have dealt with asbestos and its essential characteristics in the articlesprior to this one, we can now concentrate in more detail to its effects and thelimits of asbestos-exposure in order to aid those people who, more frequentlythan others, come in touch with it. The intensity of exposure could be said tohave drastically increased ever since the 1940s started, and was at its peak allthe way to the 1980s. The characteristics with which asbestos is endowed madeit an extremely desirable material in various industry-related branches. Unfortunately,with the overt usage on daily basis, the overt exposure of people also becameinevitable, making it extremely harmful for the overall health of those people.
Target groups
Since quite a lot ofpeople gets exposed to asbestos on a day to day basis, it is thus extremelyimportant to delineate which groups of people are at a higher risk of comingdown with the asbestos-induced illnesses, so they could protect themselves indue time and avoid ruining their health beyond “repair”. The most endangeredgroups include those people who either work in mines or live in the vicinityof one; people whose job requires them to spend longer periods of time at aconstruction site; people who are a part of the ship-building process; thosepeople who do or are employed in the work of house and building Renovation;ship breakers; manufacturers of auto clutches/brake assemblies, as well as thosewho service them as a part of their daily jobs.
Fibers - the key
When it comes toasbestos and consequences that have the tendency to befall a person aftermaintaining regular contact with it, they are primarily dependant on and broughtabout by asbestos fibers. These are known to situate themselves inside one’slungs and remain there for quite some time to come. In case of manifestations,they might take up to 15 years to develop and up to 40 to reveal themselvesopenly.
Exposure limitations
Ill effects of theexposure were first discovered as far back as 1970s, signaling even back then aneed for introduction of certain limitations, which would decrease the overallexposure and its harmful side effects. The first permissible exposure limit wasset in 1972, and it stated that the exposure ought not to last longer than 8hours with 2 fibers per cc of air with the maximum of 10 fibers. The followingyears, especially the 1980s period, were even more explicit since the scientistsdiscovered that even the limitations set prior did not protect enough people from the exposure. Therefore, it was concluded that with PEL of 8 hours should bebalanced with 0.2 fibers per cc of air. And it was in the 1990s that this limitwas reduced even more and amounted to 8 hours and 0.1 fibers per cc of air.
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