A new sub group of mesothelioma suffers has arrived. Dubbed the “third wave”, more females are falling victim to mesothelioma cancers than ever before. The adult female mesothelioma sufferers that are appearing are suspected to be from a generation where, as children, they played or lived in close contact with parents who began destroying or removing asbestos-laden material while improving or remodeling homes.
The generation prior were exposed to asbestos as children without any forethought to their health as adults. At the time of exposure, asbestos materials, found in insulation, roofing, and wall board materials, were in heavy use in the housing industry when the consequence of exposure was still not known. These children were exposed to air borne particulate matter without any thought to preventative measures, such as respiration equipment, or simply removal from the contaminated area when demolition was taking place.
The number of people coming forward with mesothelioma diagnoses without a history of work place exposure is growing, steadily increasing since the early 1990s. Many of the new cases are directly related to having lived or having participated first hand in home renovations. The new generation of sufferers may have been exposed to asbestos several years ago, even before they were old enough to remember the renovation work. Mesothelioma exposure as a child has the same long-term health effects as those adults who were exposed on job sites in industries such as shipbuilding, industrial plumbing, and boiler maintenance.
For those who suspect they have been exposed to mesothelioma as a child, a health screen and examination is in order to assess for disease and scarring of lung tissues after asbestos has been inhaled during the renovation process. For those whose parents are still living, an appropriate measure would be to ask if the victim had been exposed to renovation environments in early developmental years.
