MORE THAN 50 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE Fighting For Asbestos Victims In Louisiana

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When might a worker exposed to asbestos notice lung issues?

On Behalf of | Sep 9, 2020 | lung cancer

Quite a few people understand that exposure to asbestos can be incredibly dangerous for workers and their family members. What might confuse people is that asbestos, unlike many other carcinogens, can take a long time to produce negative medical impacts for workers.

Some individuals will experience symptoms early in life, possibly due to a condition like asbestosis that develops at the time of exposure. Most other workers will likely leave their job and possibly retire from working all together long before they ever have any verifiable symptoms of a medical condition.

If you end up developing cancer related to workplace asbestos exposure, how long will it take for symptoms to arise?

Those who develop lung cancer may go 15 years without symptoms

Every person’s body is different, and everything from your genetic proclivities to your habits, like whether or not you consume tobacco products, can influence how quickly you see the negative repercussions of asbestos on your lungs. For those who develop lung cancers because of asbestos exposure, it is common for them to go 15 years or possibly longer before they have noticeable symptoms or signs of lung cancer.

Mesothelioma takes even longer to develop

Some people mistakenly group mesothelioma in with lung cancer, but it is not actually a cancer of the lungs but rather of the tissue around the lungs. Mesothelioma is a cancer that affects your organ linings. It can take decades for a worker to notice signs of mesothelioma after exposure to asbestos on the job.

Given how long it can take this cancer to form, workers may need to look at all of their options for compensation, especially if the company they previously worked for has since gone out of business.