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Causes

By Mayo Clinic staff

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Illustration showing airways and air sacs of the lungs Airways and air sacs of the lungs

If you are exposed to high levels of asbestos dust over a long period of time, some of the airborne fibers can become lodged within your alveoli — the tiny sacs inside your lungs where oxygen is exchanged for carbon dioxide in your blood. The asbestos fibers irritate and scar lung tissue, interfering with its ability to deliver oxygen to your blood.

As asbestosis progresses, more and more lung tissue becomes scarred. Eventually, your lung tissue becomes so stiff that it can't contract and expand normally.

Smoking cigarettes appears to increase the retention of asbestos fibers in the lungs, and often results in a faster progression of the disease.

Risk factors Symptoms
References
  1. Asbestos-related lung diseases. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/asb/asb_all.html. Accessed Oct. 29, 2010.
  2. Asbestos: Health effects. Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/asbestos/asbestos/health_effects/. Accessed Oct. 29, 2010.
  3. The asbestos informer. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.gov/region4/air/asbestos/inform.htm. Accessed Oct. 29, 2010.
  4. Cowie RL, et al. Asbestos-related fibrosis of the lungs (asbestosis) and pleura. In:
  5. Mason RJ, et al. Murray & Nadel's Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/page.do?eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4710-0..00065-1--s0180&isbn=978-1-4160-4710-0&sid=1075834186&type=bookPage§ionEid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4710-0..00065-1--s0180&uniqId=224557682-3#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4710-0..00065-1--s0180. Accessed Oct. 29, 2010.
  6. Samet JM. Occupational pulmonary disorders. In: Goldman L, et al. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007.  http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/224557682-4/1075834186/1492/377.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2805-5..50098-7--cesec20_3900. Accessed Oct. 29, 2010.
  7. King TE. Asbestosis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Oct. 29, 2010.
  8. Clinical screening guidelines for asbestos-related lung disease. Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/asbestos/site-kit/docs/clinscrguide_32205_lo.pdf. Accessed Nov. 1, 2010.
  9. DeShazo RD, et al. Asbestosis. In: Bope ET, et al. Conn's Current Therapy 2010. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/page.do?sid=1077017244&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-6642-2..00004-1--sc0100&isbn=978-1-4160-6642-2&type=bookPage§ionEid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-6642-2..00004-1--s1330&uniqId=224896730-3. Accessed Nov. 1, 2010.
DS00482 Jan. 7, 2011

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