Mesothelioma- tumor of body cavity lining: a benign or malignant tumor of the lining of the lungs, heart, or abdomen, often caused by asbestos exposure.
Pneumoconiosis , a general term for any one of several lung diseases caused by breathing dust from industrial occupations like coal mining, sand blasting, and stone cutting (see Occupational and Environmental Diseases). Years of continual exposure to industrial dust can cause the formation of spots (macules), lumps (nodules), or fibrous growths in lung tissue, causing permanent damage or destruction of these tissues. Smoking can complicate or worsen the conditions. Symptoms of the disease include shortness of breath, labored breathing, coughing, and production of phlegm (mucus secreted in the respiratory system when infections are present). Other, often fatal, illnesses such as cancer, tuberculosis, emphysema, or heart disease may also develop.
Both inorganic dust (from minerals) and organic dust (from plants) can produce pneumoconioses. For example, inhalation of inorganic irritants such as coal dust, particularly from mining hard coal, or anthracite, causes the condition known as black lung disease, coal worker’s pneumoconiosis, or anthracosis. Silica dust from quarrying, mining, or sand blasting causes the disease silicosis. The fine particles and dust from asbestos, a fibrous material commonly used in construction and insulation until its use was curtailed by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1989, causes asbestosis and mesothelioma, a cancer of the chest lining. The inhalation of organic irritants most often found in textile mills such as the dusts of cotton, flax, hemp, and jute causes byssinosis, or brown lung disease. Another type of pneumoconiosis takes the form of hypersensitivity to irritants, fumes, and vapors in the workplace from substances like cadmium, beryllium, chlorine, and fluorine.
Pneumoconiosis , a general term for any one of several lung diseases caused by breathing dust from industrial occupations like coal mining, sand blasting, and stone cutting (see Occupational and Environmental Diseases). Years of continual exposure to industrial dust can cause the formation of spots (macules), lumps (nodules), or fibrous growths in lung tissue, causing permanent damage or destruction of these tissues. Smoking can complicate or worsen the conditions. Symptoms of the disease include shortness of breath, labored breathing, coughing, and production of phlegm (mucus secreted in the respiratory system when infections are present). Other, often fatal, illnesses such as cancer, tuberculosis, emphysema, or heart disease may also develop.
Both inorganic dust (from minerals) and organic dust (from plants) can produce pneumoconioses. For example, inhalation of inorganic irritants such as coal dust, particularly from mining hard coal, or anthracite, causes the condition known as black lung disease, coal worker’s pneumoconiosis, or anthracosis. Silica dust from quarrying, mining, or sand blasting causes the disease silicosis. The fine particles and dust from asbestos, a fibrous material commonly used in construction and insulation until its use was curtailed by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1989, causes asbestosis and mesothelioma, a cancer of the chest lining. The inhalation of organic irritants most often found in textile mills such as the dusts of cotton, flax, hemp, and jute causes byssinosis, or brown lung disease. Another type of pneumoconiosis takes the form of hypersensitivity to irritants, fumes, and vapors in the workplace from substances like cadmium, beryllium, chlorine, and fluorine.
Treatment can only relieve the symptoms of pneumoconiosis. Treatment options include medication, removal of the patient from the workplace, providing dust control through added ventilation, or the use of personal protection devices like dust masks.
