Mesothelioma is a particularly aggressive form of cancer that in more than four out of five cases attacks the lungs.  It has become a well-known disease over the last three decades because it is most often caused by exposure to asbestos and because of its lethal nature.  Perhaps the most unusual property affecting the link between asbestos and mesothelioma is that the disease can and does often take decades to develop after the individual goes through asbestos exposure.

While asbestos has been considered to have toxic properties at least since the 1930s, the definitive link to mesothelioma was firmly established by the 1950s and the government acted to ban uses of the substance in the 1960s.  By that time, hundreds of thousands of people had been exposed to asbestos in mines, in factories, in the construction industry – essentially, anywhere that asbestos has been used.

What is often overlooked in this story is the fact that a number of mesothelioma patients have been people who simply lived in the same house as the individual who was exposed to asbestos fibers.  These tiny particles inhaled by mesothelioma sufferers also traveled home on clothing.  The National Cancer Institute  reports that “There is some evidence that family members and others living with asbestos workers have an increased risk of developing mesothelioma, and possibly other asbestos-related diseases.”