Causes of mesothelioma

Virtually all mesotheliomas are caused by asbestos.

Blue and brown asbestos are much more potent in causing mesothelioma than white asbestos, but all asbestos is capable of causing mesothelioma. The asbestos that causes the mesothelioma is likely to have been breathed in 10 or more years before symptoms develop.

Usually, if a careful enough history is taken from the patient, he or she will remember some exposure to asbestos. In a very small number of cases, mesothelioma develops after no known asbestos exposure. It is common for people not to remember at first that they have breathed in asbestos, or they may not know that materials with which they worked contained asbestos.

There is no “safe” minimum dose of asbestos, including white asbestos (chrysotile), below which you can say there is no risk of mesothelioma. But the risk of mesothelioma increases the more asbestos you have inhaled in your life.

Acre Mill, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. Operated by Cape plc. Originally built to make gas mask filters during World War II. Many former workers developed mesothelioma.

Thanks to Frank Woolrich, Hebden Bridge Historical Society.