People often wonder when they were exposed to asbestos at work. A diagnosis of asbestosis or pleural thickening is a sure sign that someone has worked hands-on with asbestos, but sometimes people are left puzzling about when this might have been. This is because there were a lot of products containing hidden asbestos.
Worse still, when doctors are wondering whether to diagnosis an asbestos related disease, and ask the patient if asbestos could be at the bottom of their symptoms, a wrong answer can throw them off the scent.
It is worth knowing, therefore, that if you worked in the car industry in the 1960s or 1970s, and if you repaired older vehicles in the 1980s, you may have been exposed to asbestos. It was often used in brakes, clutches and gaskets, as well as in insulation and exhaust systems. A new study, published by the BMJ, confirms that a higher than average incidence of asbestosis is linked with these occupations.
People exposed to asbestos at work may be entitled to compensation.
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