[shadowprofile77]

From what I know and was also told by several doctors when a family member was dying of mesothelioma in his early 70's (despite never having worked more than casually a few times around asbestos in his much younger years), the illness is strongly suspected of being tied to a genetic predisposition that only affects a certain small percentage of people.

If one has this genetic disposition, it's apparently possible that even moderate or modest exposure early in life is enough to cause the (extremely deadly and almost impossible to treat) disease at some point later in life. This point can come years or decades after exposure.

And if one isn't predisposed, then even heavy exposure to asbestos probably won't cause mesothelioma. It is of course still possible to get other really shitty lung problems from the mineral regardless of genetic factors, but meso itself seems to be very selective. This apparently is why it's relatively rare despite widespread asbestos use for decades before recent years in much of the world.

[userbinator]

Smoking also greatly increases the chances: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3749214/

[nikanj]

Now to find the construction worker in the 1970s who did not smoke

[meowface]

What is the mechanism of action there? Do some people's lungs gradually clear away the asbestos particles more effectively than others'?

[growlist]

> Do some people's lungs gradually clear away the asbestos particles more effectively than others'?

At least in terms of damage to the lungs, from what I gather (by reading wikipedia!) it's the degree of inflammatory response to the asbestos that is critical, not the presence of the asbestos itself. If your body thinks 'asbestos, oh shit!' and mounts a big response to attempt to wall off the particles etc. then you are in trouble.

Fun fact: asbestos is blowing around in the air pretty much everywhere at some level.

[userbinator]

Fun fact: asbestos is blowing around in the air pretty much everywhere at some level.

Since it is naturally occurring, it could be that some sort of natural selection has happened over time to cause people who live in naturally asbestos-rich areas to develop far greater immunity to its presence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbest

[rbg246]

One thing I always find interesting about Wittenoom Mine is that it's construction and then sale to CSR seems to be the seed capital for Lang Hancock and his daughter Gina Rinehart to build a giant empire in iron ore mining.

Gina Rinehart is the wealthiest person in Australia.