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  Asbestos

Asbestos is common form of magnesium silicate which, before its severe effects on health were discovered, was used in various construction products. Asbestos became popular because of it's stability and resistance to fire. The problem is that fine asbestos fibres are easily inhaled and can cause a number of respiratory complaints, including a potentially serious lung fibrosis called asbestosis. Asbestos is carcinogenic. In the United States alone, it is estimated that ten thousand people die each year of asbestos-related diseases, such as asbestosis, lung cancer, and gastrointestinal cancer. Asbestos has a synergistic effect with tobacco smoking in the causation of lung cancer.

Exposure to asbestos has also been determined to cause a very serious form of cancer, mesothelioma, that occurs in the chest and abdominal cavities. This disease is not called lung cancer, because the malignant cells are derived from the mesothelium (a tissue found on the inner walls of the chest and abdominal cavities and on the outer surface of the lungs) rather than in the lung itself.