Asbestosis is a chronically progressive disease. Initial symptoms include shortness of breath, fatigue and loss of appetite, chest tightness and pain, crackles within the lungs and clubbing of fingers and toes.
People working in industries such as plumbing, demolition work and at power stations, were likely to have been exposed to breathing in fibres of asbestos often over a period of years. Asbestosis can take 20 years or more to develop, so ill effects are not instantly traceable to asbestos.
