My husband and I immediately heat our freshly made mugs of tea in the microwave for 20 seconds because – especially when making two mugs of tea – by the time you’ve squeezed the life out of the bag and added the milk, it’s nearly lukewarm. Tea has to be steaming. Obviously, this response will come with a health and safety warning about due diligence to one’s oesophagus, but you do have to have an asbestos mouth. My father drank his tea piping hot, so I do the same. It’s a genetic pre-disposition, perhaps. Nadia Banton International Agency for Research on Cancer. IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans. Volume 100C: Arsenic, Metals, Fibres, and Dusts. 2012. Accessed at https://publications.iarc.fr/120 on January 4, 2023. IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risk to Humans. Arsenic, Metals, Fibres and Dusts. Lyon (FR): International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2012. (IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, No. 100C.) Mesotheliomas typically take a long time to develop. The time between first exposure to asbestos and diagnosis of mesothelioma is usually 30 years or more. Unfortunately, the risk of mesothelioma does not drop with time after exposure to asbestos. The risk appears to be lifelong.

Families of asbestos workers may also have been exposed to asbestos fibres brought home on workers’ clothing. Asbestos and the building trades Another EPA resource that may be of interest is the brochure titled Current Best Practices for Preventing Asbestos Exposure Among Brake and Clutch Repair Workers. Released in April 2007, this brochure includes work practices for both automotive professionals and home mechanics that may be used to avoid asbestos exposure. It also summarizes existing OSHA regulatory requirements for professional auto mechanics.In addition, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Program provides benefits to longshoremen, harbor workers, other maritime workers, and other classes of private industry workers who are injured during the course of employment or suffer from diseases caused or worsened by conditions of employment. Information about eligibility and how to file a claim for benefits under either of these programs is available from: A U.S. Senate committee and National Institutes of Health supported study in 2006 reviewed the research on asbestos and pharyngeal cancer. A higher risk of pharyngeal cancer was observed among asbestos workers. More cases were not detected among those highly exposed.

Lu, X. et al. (2019, June 24). Long-term pulmonary exposure to multi-walled carbon nanotubes promotes breast cancer metastatic cascades. Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-019-0472-4 Asbestos and your health. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/asbestos/overview.html. Accessed Oct. 15, 2021.Avoiding asbestos exposure is the best way to prevent asbestos cancer. Airborne fibers can become lodged in the lungs, causing inflammation and scarring. These cancers have a long latency period. Symptoms may not manifest until decades after exposure.