{"id":2308,"title":"Mesothelioma Causes & Risk Factors","slug":"mesothelioma-causes-risk-factors","lang":null,"description":"Asbestos exposure is the main cause of mesothelioma. Asbestos fibers can lodge in the lining of the lungs or abdomen, risking inflammation, DNA mutations and eventually cancer. Workers, veterans and families exposed secondhand face higher risks, with symptoms appearing 20 to 60 years after exposure.","content":"

What Causes Mesothelioma?

Asbestos fibers cause mesothelioma when they’re inhaled or ingested and become stuck in the mesothelium, a thin tissue layer surrounding the lungs, abdomen and other organs. The body can’t clear these fibers, so they can stay there for decades, slowly damaging DNA and triggering the cell mutations that lead to cancer.

Risk varies depending on how much and how long the asbestos exposure was. While this dose-response relationship means the risk of a single exposure in a well-ventilated environment is low, there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.

Most mesothelioma diagnoses are the result of primary asbestos exposure at work or in the military. Some people develop mesothelioma from secondary exposure, which happens when workers accidentally carry fibers home on their bodies, clothes or gear.

Asbestos is a group of 6 naturally occurring fibrous minerals. Manufacturers used it heavily in construction, insulation, shipbuilding and manufacturing throughout the 20th century. When someone disturbs asbestos-containing materials, microscopic fibers enter the air and people can inhale or swallow them.

How Does Asbestos Cause Mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma develops when the DNA of healthy cells mutates and becomes cancerous. This can happen when microscopic asbestos fibers are inhaled or swallowed, travel through the body, reach the pleural and peritoneal tissues and cause irritation and inflammation over time.

A process known as “frustrated phagocytosis” can happen, which means the immune system keeps trying to clear these irritants, but can’t. The white blood cells the body sends to fight the asbestos (called macrophages), cause inflammation as they signal to the body to send more reinforcements to help in the fight. This leads to chronic inflammation.

Over time, this chronic inflammation repeatedly damages DNA in mesothelial cells, making them cancerous. The long latency period of 20 to 60 years between asbestos exposure and diagnosis reflects the time it takes for cellular damage to build up and overwhelm the body’s natural repair systems.

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Asbestos damages mesothelial cells and mutates them into cancerous mesothelioma cells.

Mesothelioma Risk Factors and Secondary Causes

Asbestos exposure is the biggest risk factor for mesothelioma. Risk factors are characteristics or behaviors that increase the chances of developing a specific disease. Other risk factors include genetics, age, gender and different types of asbestos exposure.

Mesothelioma Risk Factors

Age and gender risk: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports people 65 and older are nearly 13 times more likely to develop mesothelioma than those 54 and younger as of 2021. Most diagnoses occur between ages 75 and 79.
Environmental exposure: Living near asbestos deposits can lead to exposure when sediment or soil is disturbed. Environmental exposure accounts for about 3% of all mesothelioma cases, rising to 19% in women.
Family history and BAP1 gene: A mutation in the BAP1 gene raises mesothelioma risk in people who also have asbestos exposure compared to those without the mutation.
Military exposure: Military bases, housing, vehicles and crafts such as planes and ships used heavy amounts of asbestos, putting veterans at higher risk of exposure and mesothelioma.
Occupational exposure: Workers in industries that used asbestos heavily have an increased risk of mesothelioma.
Secondary exposure: Family members of asbestos workers face exposure risk from fibers workers accidentally carry home.
Simian Virus 40 and radiation: High doses of radiation can increase cancer risk. Scientists haven’t confirmed a link between Simian Virus 40 and mesothelioma risk. Research is ongoing.

Asbestos exposure can happen at work, in older homes, in public buildings and in the environment. Workers in commercial and industrial sectors have faced higher exposure risks.

Pleural mesothelioma survivor Terry Latham’s asbestos exposure happened during his 10 years of construction work. Terry tells us he received his mesothelioma diagnosis decades later. Now, he’s one of the longest-living pleural survivors. He shares, “People should know you can get through it, but you can’t stop fighting. Whatever you do, don’t give up.”

Exposure Type	Who Is Most Affected	Risk Level
Occupational	Construction workers, shipbuilders, mechanics, electricians, plumbers	Highest
Military	Navy veterans (ships built before 1983 contained 200+ asbestos products)	High
Secondary / Household	Family members of workers who brought fibers home on clothing	Moderate
Environmental	Residents near natural asbestos deposits or contaminated sites	Lower
Consumer Products	Users of talc-based products (baby powder, cosmetics)	Lower

Occupational Asbestos Exposure

Occupational asbestos exposure is the No. 1 cause of mesothelioma. Among the highest-risk groups are miners and industrial workers, who have long faced significant exposure. Shipyard workers, as well as those in boiler rooms and power plants, are also at risk.

Additionally, legacy asbestos present in older buildings continues to pose a hazard. Construction workers and firefighters encounter risks related to legacy asbestos, especially during renovation, demolition or disaster response. Auto mechanics remain exposed when working with legacy asbestos brakes and clutches.

Military Asbestos Exposure

Veterans get mesothelioma from military asbestos exposure. The U.S. military used asbestos extensively in bases, vehicles, ships and planes. Navy personnel have some of the highest rates of mesothelioma among military veterans because asbestos was widely applied on ships to reduce the spread of fire.

Ventilation was poor in confined spaces like engine and boiler rooms. This meant fiber concentrations reached extremely high levels and protective gear was rarely provided. Boiler workers, pipefitters and shipyard workers involved in military shipbuilding and maintenance were at particularly high risk of exposure and developing mesothelioma.

Navy veteran John Conway tells us he remembers stripping asbestos insulation as part of his job. Decades later, John shares with us that he developed pleural mesothelioma. “It used to look like it was snowing down there,” John recalls about the airborne asbestos fibers he witnessed.

Secondary Asbestos Exposure

Secondary asbestos exposure happens when workers bring tiny asbestos fibers home on skin, clothes, shoes or tools. These fibers can spread into the air and settle on surfaces, putting family members and others close by at risk of breathing asbestos. This take-home exposure is the most common secondary form. It can lead to serious illnesses years later.

For example, barbers and ceramics workers used asbestos-contaminated talcum powder. Taking these fibers home raised the risk of cancer among family members. An engineer exposed to asbestos at work could also carry fibers into a shared office with people who don’t work directly with asbestos, but are exposed as fibers spread in the shared space.

Environmental Asbestos Exposure

Living near asbestos deposits carries a risk of exposure. Tiny fibers can remain airborne in these areas, posing a potential health hazard. The danger is greatest close to old asbestos mines and factories.

Although the risk of disease from living near asbestos mines is lower than from working directly with asbestos, research suggests it accounts for about 3% of all mesothelioma cases. For women, that number rises significantly to 19%.

Some minerals, such as erionite, often develop near asbestos deposits. Erionite isn’t a form of asbestos but contains long, thin fibers similar to asbestos. Because of this, erionite deposits can present an additional exposure risk in affected areas.

Talc and Consumer Product Exposure

Talc and asbestos deposits form close together in the earth, which means talc can become contaminated with asbestos during mining. This has been documented in geology books since as far back as 1872, yet for most of the 20th century the talc industry was largely left to police itself and consumers were rarely warned of the risk.

Government research and a growing body of independent studies have since linked asbestos-contaminated talc to cancer. Products like baby powder, cosmetics and body powder have all been found to contain asbestos, and talc lawsuits have surged as more people learn of the risk. Many people who used these products regularly over years may have inhaled asbestos fibers without ever knowing it.

Age and Gender Risk for Mesothelioma

Doctors diagnose mesothelioma more often in men than in women. Men made up 70% and women 30% of new mesothelioma cases in the U.S. in 2021, according to the CDC’s United States Cancer Statistics. The CDC has also reported a recent sharp rise in mesothelioma among women.

Women’s asbestos exposure historically came mainly from secondary exposure or from living near asbestos sites. Today, increased occupational exposure to legacy asbestos and use of asbestos-contaminated products like talc may contribute to the rise in cases. Better medical awareness has also helped doctors identify more cases in women than before. Women also develop peritoneal mesothelioma at proportionally higher rates than men. Researchers haven’t fully explained this disparity.

Age also plays an important role in mesothelioma risk. Most people receive their diagnosis between ages 75 and 79, which reflects the 20 to 60 year latency period after exposure. However, doctors have found cases in teens and young adults in their 20s as a result of early-life asbestos exposure.

Family History and BAP1 Gene

Some genetic factors can increase a person’s chance of getting mesothelioma after asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma isn’t inherited like some other diseases. However, a BAP1 gene mutation can make someone more likely to develop mesothelioma if they come into contact with asbestos.

Genes carry instructions for how our bodies work, and mutations are small differences in those instructions. Certain mutations in the BAP1 gene can affect how cells grow and repair themselves. These changes are often found in mesothelioma tumors and can help explain why people with this mutation are at higher risk.

Because of this discovery, doctors now suggest that testing for BAP1 gene mutations should be part of diagnosing mesothelioma. This testing can help patients and their doctors better understand the disease and guide treatment choices.

Simian Virus 40 & Radiation

Researchers have found some cancer tumors contain Simian Virus 40, also known as SV40. However, there is no evidence that SV40, a virus found in humans and monkeys, causes mesothelioma. Scientists continue to study SV40 to understand if it plays any role in the disease.

Workers on nuclear submarines and in propulsion plants faced widespread asbestos exposure from insulation and fireproofing, putting them at higher risk for mesothelioma. Research indicates that the high doses of radiation these workers received on such vessels may add to their mesothelioma risk.

This radiation exposure differs greatly from the low levels people receive from medical imaging, such as X-rays and CT scans. Radiation from imaging scans has not been linked to mesothelioma risk.

Why Do Some People Get Mesothelioma While Others Don’t?

Not everyone exposed to asbestos will develop mesothelioma. Researchers have identified 4 key variables that influence a person’s risk. Cumulative exposure is the strongest predictor of mesothelioma. Dose and duration play the biggest role because the longer and more intense the exposure, the more fiber accumulation and DNA damage in the body.

The fiber type involved in the exposure also matters. Amphibole asbestos, including crocidolite and amosite, persists in tissue longer and carries a higher risk than chrysotile.

Every person’s immune response to asbestos fibers is different. So is each individual body’s ability to repair DNA damage before healthy cells change into cancer. Both factors help explain why some people develop mesothelioma after exposure and others don’t.

Even with all known risk factors, doctors can’t predict individual outcomes with certainty. Anyone with a documented asbestos exposure history should talk to their doctor about screenings and early detection.

How to Lower Your Risk of Mesothelioma

Employers must provide safe working conditions to prevent mesothelioma. They’re responsible for keeping workplaces free of asbestos, providing personal protective equipment and conducting proper training. If workers notice safety violations, they should talk with their union representatives or file a report with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA then investigates.

The public can lower its risk by avoiding asbestos products, including consumer goods, home building materials and automotive parts. Older homes, salvaged and vintage materials and classic auto parts can contain legacy asbestos and put DIY-ers at risk.

Tips to Reduce Asbestos Exposure

Don’t wear clothing, footwear or other work gear that could carry asbestos fibers home.
Take care when buying vintage, antique or upcycled items that might contain asbestos.
Use a qualified asbestos abatement company to test for and remove asbestos safely from your home.
Choose talc-free cosmetics and personal care products.
Report any asbestos exposure at work to OSHA.
Talk with your employer about asbestos risks and workplace safety policies.

If you’ve already been exposed and worry about your health, our Patient Advocates can connect you with a doctor to screen for mesothelioma. Early detection improves treatment options.

See your doctor promptly if you experience symptoms of mesothelioma such as shortness of breath, chest pain or abdominal discomfort. Patient Advocates can connect you with specialists who offer expert care.

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