Toxicology: Asbestos Exposure, ADME, and Health Impacts Report

This report provides a preliminary analysis of asbestos toxicity, focusing on its impact on human health. It begins by highlighting asbestos as a known human carcinogen, emphasizing the increased risk of mesothelioma and lung cancer due to exposure. The report then delves into the ADME (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion) processes of asbestos, detailing how it enters the body through inhalation, skin contact, and ingestion, and how the fibers behave within the body, including their potential to reside in the lungs for extended periods. The report further discusses the health risks associated with asbestos exposure, including the potential for both short-term symptoms like chest pain and shortness of breath, and long-term conditions such as malignant mesothelioma, with a specific focus on the vulnerability of children to asbestos-related health issues. It concludes by identifying children as key stakeholders in the context of asbestos exposure, underscoring the need for concern due to the potential for both immediate and long-term health effects from asbestos exposure.

Running head: TOXICOLOGY
Toxicology
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1TOXICOLOGY
Preliminary Report
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, asbestos is an active
human carcinogen and it has been confirmed by the International Agency for Research on
Cancer. Several types of cancer have been reported to have been occurring from the exposure of
asbestos. Moreover, the two most common type of cancer that occurs due to the exposure to
asbestos are the mesothelioma and lung cancer (Oury, Sporn and Roggli 2014). However, it is
important to highlight that long- term exposure to asbestos can also cause malignant
mesothelioma. While it is highlighting fact that mesothelioma can also occur from asbestos
exposure and even after 35 years of the first exposure. While it has been found in studies that
exposure to asbestos can highly cause other type of diseases and cancers. Research has shown
that there is a high probability of health risks arising from asbestos that are present in the
asbestos containing household products (Goswami et al. 2013).
ADME- Asbestos can be potentially enter and get absorbed through the inhalation, skin
and ingestion; it has been found that the inhaled fibres of asbestos can even pass through the
epithelium layers of the lungs. Even, the asbestos fibres are seen to be located near the nucleus.
Asbestos is even detected in the lymph and blood during the times of oral exposure.
Furthermore, the asbestos fibres reside in the lungs and it do not under any major type of change.
Inside the lungs chrysolite fibres undergo changes and it breaks down (Lapčević, Mandić-
Rajević and Jovanović 2018). While the long fibres of asbestos can reside inside lungs for longer
periods and can cause asbestos bodies. During the times of oral exposure, the alternation in the
structure of chrysolite takes along with the metal ion exchange. If the elimination and excretion
is considered then asbestos is carried by blood and transported to kidney where it gets eliminated

2TOXICOLOGY
through urine. However, it has been seen that the asbestos fibres do not get eliminated
completely and reside in the lungs and further accumulation takes place (Moré et al. 2018).
The exposure of asbestos at the early ages can cause health issues like shortness of
breath, clubbing of fingers, chest pain, appetite loss and dry cough. These types of symptoms can
occur to anybody who is aged between 10 to 40 years. Long term exposure to asbestos can cause
malignant mesothelioma and it is a severe form of cancer. Thus, it is important to highlight that
children health can significantly be affected due to the asbestos exposure and gradual
accumulation can cause serious damage to health (Goswami et al. 2013).
The stakeholder in this case are the children and the reason or the main concern will arise
from the long term and short term of asbestos exposure. Studies have indicated that long term
exposure of asbestos can potentially cause symptoms like the malignant mesothelioma. Due to
this the children and their parents must be concerned about the long- term exposure of the
asbestos. While it is important to mention that there are even health issues emanating from the
short- term exposure of asbestos and they are chest pain and shortness of breath (Oury, Sporn
and Roggli 2014).

3TOXICOLOGY
Reference
Goswami, E., Craven, V., Dahlstrom, D., Alexander, D. and Mowat, F., 2013. Domestic asbestos
exposure: a review of epidemiologic and exposure data. International journal of environmental
research and public health, 10(11), pp.5629-5670.
Lapčević, Z., Mandić-Rajević, S. and Jovanović, M., 2018. The Use of Biological Monitoring in
Environmental Protection. Zbornik Međunarodnog kongresa o procesnoj industriji–
Procesing, 31(1), pp.217-222.
Moré, M.I., Libera, M., Paulus, F., Fleige, E. and Moré, S.D., 2018. Regulatory and risk
assessment perspective for core-multishell nanocarriers: A novel excipient on its way towards
marketing authorization. In Emerging Nanotechnologies in Immunology (pp. 89-102).
Oury, T.D., Sporn, T.A. and Roggli, V.L. eds., 2014. Pathology of asbestos-associated
diseases (p. 357). Verlag Berlin Heidelberg: Springer.