Coming from a family where an inordinate number of members have died from lung cancer, I am always worried about breathing in things I shouldn't. Two grandfathers died from lung cancer, and my grandmother. Also my great-grandfather, and probably other family members of which I am not even aware. Of course smoking played a part in their deaths, I am sure, even though they all quite smoking 20 years before their deaths. My grandfather worked in a glass factory when he was a teen, and I am sure they did not wear masks back then. Particles were flying all over the factory. I heard that they could have gotten lodged in his lungs and created cancer so many years later.
And of course, there is radon and asbestos. A friend of mine died from lung cancer when she was in her early 30s, and she never smoked. So the odds may be great that either radon or asbestos might have caused her cancer.
And the commercials on TV about mesothelioma are just heartbreaking. One woman says that when her father worked in a plant when he was young, the asbestos "fell like snow." Many people do not know they have been exposed to asbestos, as it can be present in many place and products. As a lawyer, I wonder if I will ever take any of these case.
The best thing is to get an asbestos survey done if you are buying property, either commercial or residential. You want to make sure that the areas where you spend most of your life are safe to live and breathe. Then, if the building do have asbestos, you can get if fixed. Prevention is certainly key.
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