MORE THAN 50 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE FIGHTING FOR ASBESTOS VICTIMS IN LOUISIANA

Is there anything you can do after you’ve been exposed to asbestos to mitigate your risk?

On Behalf of | May 25, 2021 | asbestos

Advice regarding safety around asbestos is often focused on what you can do in advance. If you know you’ll be working around it, for instance, you can buy a properly-rated mask to keep yourself safe. 

But what if the exposure already happened? Maybe you were unaware of the asbestos entirely until someone else pointed it out, and you realized you had already been breathing in those particles. Is there anything you can do that this point to mitigate your danger?

Talk to your doctor right away

Unfortunately, there is not a lot you can do to address the issue and you cannot remove any asbestos particles from your lungs if you’ve already inhaled them. Treatment options are limited. 

The best thing to do, then, is to go to your doctor and explain what happened. Ask them about any tests they can do to determine your level of risk. They can give you direct advice based on your specific situation. With any medical issue, early detection is key to survival, so monitoring is probably warranted.

Beyond that, remember that single exposure incidents are less dangerous than long-term exposure. You may have already been exposed once, but you can start being proactive about avoiding more exposure in the future. This can certainly reduce the risk that you face, even if you can never take it all the way back to nothing. 

Do you need legal assistance after asbestos exposure?

Depending on what happened, you may also want to look into your legal options to seek compensation. If you develop an asbestos-related disease, it can be very problematic and potentially fatal, and the medical costs could be quite high. You need to know if you or your family can be compensated for those costs.