Inhaling asbestos fibers causes asbestosis, a chronic, irreversible lung disease. Over time, the fibers scar lung tissue, leading to a persistent cough, shortness of breath and chest tightness.
Written by Dr. Jeffrey Velotta, MD, FACS | Medically Reviewed by Dr. Raja Michael Flores | Edited by Amy Edel | Last Update:
Exclusive Content
Sean Marchese, MS, RN: What Is Asbestosis?
Exclusive Content
Sean Marchese, MS, RN: What Is Asbestosis?
Asbestosis is a chronic lung disease that can develop over time after breathing in asbestos fibers that scar and stiffen lung tissue. It’s a form of lung diseases (pulmonary fibrosis and pneumoconiosis) connected to inhaled mineral dust. In 2024, the most recent year in CDC’s mortality data, asbestosis caused 236 deaths in the U.S.
Asbestosis and Cancer Risk
When your lungs stiffen, your body can’t get enough oxygen. Thickened scar tissue makes it hard for your lungs to transfer oxygen into the blood. This can cause trouble breathing, coughing, chest pain and other conditions.
The first symptoms of asbestosis include a dry cough, difficulty breathing and crackling sounds when breathing. These crackling sounds happen because scar tissues stiffens your lungs. Stiff lungs make it harder for your blood to get enough oxygen, which leads to shortness of breath. Long-term breathing problems and low oxygen cause fatigue and weight loss.
Common Asbestosis Symptoms
Registered Nurse and Board-Certified Patient Advocate Karen Selby tells us, “Asbestosis symptoms can be similar to many illnesses or diagnoses. So your physician may not immediately consider it. Because of this, discussing your asbestos exposure history will be important. This will help your physician in ordering appropriate testing quickly.”
Advanced symptoms of asbestosis include pulmonary hypertension. Scar tissue tightens your arteries, which raises blood pressure because the heart must work harder to pump blood to the lungs.
When your lungs deliver too little oxygen to your blood, a symptom called clubbing can appear. Clubbing makes the tips of the fingers and toes broader and rounder than usual. Some people may develop this symptom early in the disease.
Asbestosis develops faster than asbestos-related cancer. A diagnosis of asbestosis signals a higher risk of lung cancer or mesothelioma in the future.
Access expert diet and exercise guidance designed specifically for mesothelioma patients to support treatment and overall wellness.
Get Your Free GuideThe only cause of asbestosis is inhaling asbestos fibers. Asbestosis belongs to a group of lung diseases called pneumoconiosis. These diseases happen when people inhale certain types of dust. For example, inhaling silica dust causes silicosis.
When you inhale asbestos fibers, they accumulate in your lungs. This triggers inflammation and can change lung tissue over time. When scar tissue forms, it limits your lungs’ ability to move and function. The interstitium (fluid-filled spaces around cells and blood vessels), alveoli (tiny air sacs) and nearby tissues become inflamed and scarred.
Asbestosis usually develops after many years of regular exposure to asbestos. Symptoms and diagnosis often appear decades after exposure. The time from first exposure to symptoms or latency period is usually 10 to 40 years for asbestosis. This is shorter than the latency for other asbestos-related illnesses like mesothelioma, which takes 20 to 60 years to develop.
People diagnosed with asbestosis inhaled asbestos fibers at home, at work or in a natural environment, such as an asbestos mine. Common places where exposure happens include construction sites, ships and industrial workplaces. Workers in these settings face a higher risk of developing asbestosis.
Many products made before the 1980s contained asbestos, such as building materials, automotive parts, textiles and some talc products. Although the U.S. no longer mines asbestos or uses it in new residential construction, old buildings still contain legacy asbestos.
You must have regular, prolonged exposure to asbestos to develop pulmonary fibrosis. Experts agree that occasional asbestos exposure may not cause asbestosis. Occupational exposure remains the primary cause of most cases of asbestosis.
Asbestosis survivor Jerry Cochran tells us his time in the Navy led to an asbestosis diagnosis later in life. He encountered asbestos when he scraped and ground nonskid paint off an aircraft carrier in the early 1970s. He says, “We didn’t have any training or any knowledge of what was happening to us. You were innocent young men, 18 to 19 years old, doing a job.”
People with occupational asbestos exposure face a higher risk of developing asbestosis. The disease usually develops in people exposed to large amounts of asbestos for long periods. Certain jobs carry a high risk of heavy asbestos exposure. These include military personnel, construction workers, insulators, miners and millers.
A 2024 study in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health also highlighted pipefitters and metal, oil and shipyard workers as higher risk. Textile mill workers, industrial workers and mechanics face higher risks too.
Risk Factors for Asbestosis
Family members of these workers can get exposed to asbestos fibers when they’re accidentally brought home on clothing, shoes and tools. Secondhand asbestos exposure is known to cause mesothelioma but isn’t as likely to cause asbestosis. Asbestosis usually happens after high amounts of asbestos exposure, mostly from direct workplace contact.
Asbestosis survivor Jerry Cochran tells us his time in the Navy led to an asbestosis diagnosis later in life. He encountered asbestos when he scraped and ground nonskid paint off an aircraft carrier in the early 1970s. He says, “We didn’t have any training or any knowledge of what was happening to us. You were innocent young men, 18 to 19 years old, doing a job.”
Jerry Cochran
Navy Veteran With Asbestosis Has a Passion for Justice
Navy veteran Jerry Cochran developed asbestosis from exposure to asbestos-containing products. His faith and his work advocating for others has kept him going for the past half a century.
Jerry Cochran
Your doctor will review your medical and work history and perform tests to diagnose asbestosis. Radiologists look for lung scarring on chest X-rays, CT scans or both. They confirm your diagnosis when scan results match your history of asbestos exposure. Doctors diagnose asbestosis with a review of your exposure history, imaging scans and breathing tests.
How Doctors Diagnose Asbestosis
You may have lung tests to check how well your lungs work. Your doctor will use a stethoscope to listen for crackling sounds during breathing. Your doctor may take a lung tissue biopsy to find scarring and asbestos fibers. A biopsy may not be needed if imaging shows scarring, and your history includes asbestos exposure.
As asbestosis progresses, the lung scarring can lead to several serious complications. These complications tend to develop gradually as more lung tissue scars over time, and their severity generally tracks with how much asbestos exposure a person had.
Common Complications of Asbestosis
Asbestosis does not cause these cancers, but a diagnosis signals a level of asbestos exposure linked to higher cancer risk. Lung cancer is also more common than mesothelioma in people diagnosed with asbestosis. Because of this, doctors typically advise people diagnosed with asbestosis to continue regular chest imaging and lung function monitoring, both to track the disease itself and to catch related conditions early.
People with asbestosis live an average of about 10 years after diagnosis. Life expectancy changes with the stage of the disease. People in the early stage often live the longest, around 14 years. In the advanced stage, life expectancy drops to about 1.75 years.
How fast the disease progresses and how much asbestos exposure you had affect your outlook. High exposure usually leads to more severe cases that worsen quickly. Lower exposure often means mild cases that progress slowly or stay stable.
No treatment can reverse the lung scarring after asbestos exposure. Only a double lung transplant can stop the disease from getting worse. Asbestosis causes more deaths from pneumoconiosis than any other lung condition. It accounted for about 60% of all pneumoconiosis deaths from 1999 to 2018.
| Asbestosis Stage | Survival in Months (Years) |
|---|---|
| Early Stage | 14.25 years |
| Intermediate Stage | 4.16 years |
| Advanced Stage | 1.75 years |
| All Stages Combined | 10.3 years |
Because asbestosis has no cure, preventing asbestos exposure is the most effective protection. Avoiding it altogether isn’t always realistic for people who work in older buildings with legacy asbestos, so OSHA requires employers to provide protective equipment like respirators and engineering controls such as wet methods and HEPA vacuuming that meaningfully cut down how much asbestos actually reaches your lungs.
Ways to Prevent Asbestosis
If you’ve been exposed to asbestos, talk with a doctor about monitoring your lung health over time because asbestosis is incurable, and catching complications early matters. Regular chest imaging and pulmonary function tests are the standard way doctors track lung changes in people with an asbestos exposure history, even years after exposure has ended.
Asbestosis treatments relieve your symptoms, slow progression and improve your quality of life. Supplemental oxygen from a portable oxygen tank is often necessary if you have reduced lung capacity. Medications can thin lung secretions to make coughing easier and relieve your chest pain.
Treatments for Asbestosis
Pulmonary rehabilitation helps people with chronic breathing problems. A team of therapists supports your physical and mental health. Exercise and physical therapy can improve your fitness, lung function and how you feel each day. Physical therapists use percussion and vibration to loosen and clear mucus. Quitting smoking is critical because cigarette smoke worsens symptoms and asbestosis progression.
Lung transplants can stop the disease from worsening in advanced cases. Doctors usually recommend double lung transplants because they offer the best results, but only a few people qualify for this major surgery.
Working with a pulmonologist who has experience treating asbestosis is key to managing the disease effectively. These specialists understand how asbestosis affects your lungs and can create a personalized care plan. They monitor your lung function, adjust treatments as needed and help manage symptoms to improve your breathing and quality of life.
A top pulmonologist can also connect you with other health professionals such as nutritionists and therapists who support your overall well-being. If you consider complementary therapies or supplements, always discuss them with your pulmonologist first to make sure they’re safe and fit into your treatment plan. This teamwork helps you get the right care and avoid risks.
Francis D. Sheski
Pleural Specialist | Pulmonary Critical Care
Dr. Francis D. Sheski is a pulmonary critical care specialist who has expertise in treating asbestos-related pulmonary conditions such as pleural mesothelioma and asbestosis. He is board-certified in family medicine, internal medicine, critical care and pulmonary medicine.
Read BioAsbestosis is a long-term disease, different from mesothelioma. Many people live for decades after diagnosis. Some people face serious breathing problems, and the disease can eventually be deadly.
Mesothelioma is a cancer that affects the tissue around the lungs, chest and abdomen. Asbestosis is a chronic lung disease, not cancer. It’s a type of lung scarring called pulmonary fibrosis. Both asbestosis and mesothelioma come from asbestos exposure.
You can live with asbestosis for years, but there is no cure for this progressive condition. Treatments focus on easing symptoms and helping you breathe better. On average, people live about 10 years with asbestosis, but this can vary widely.
There is no way to reverse asbestosis once it develops, because the lung scarring is permanent. People who have been exposed to asbestos can work with a doctor to monitor their lung health and manage symptoms over time.
Your web browser is no longer supported by Microsoft. Update your browser for more security, speed and compatibility.
If you are looking for mesothelioma support, please contact our Patient Advocates at (855) 404-4592
The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com has provided patients and their loved ones the most updated and reliable information on mesothelioma and asbestos exposure since 2006.
Our team of Patient Advocates includes a medical doctor, a registered nurse, health services administrators, veterans, VA-accredited Claims Agents, an oncology patient navigator and hospice care expert. Their combined expertise means we help any mesothelioma patient or loved one through every step of their cancer journey.
More than 30 contributors, including mesothelioma doctors, survivors, health care professionals and other experts, have peer-reviewed our website and written unique research-driven articles to ensure you get the highest-quality medical and health information.
My family has only the highest compliment for the assistance and support that we received from The Mesothelioma Center. This is a staff of compassionate and knowledgeable individuals who respect what your family is experiencing and who go the extra mile to make an unfortunate diagnosis less stressful. Information and assistance were provided by The Mesothelioma Center at no cost to our family.LashawnMesothelioma patient’s daughter
Asbestos.com. (2026, August 3). Asbestosis. Retrieved August 13, 2026, from https://www.asbestos.com/asbestosis/
"Asbestosis." Asbestos.com, 3 Aug 2026, https://www.asbestos.com/asbestosis/.
Asbestos.com. "Asbestosis." Last modified August 3, 2026. https://www.asbestos.com/asbestosis/.
Dr. Raja Flores is chairman of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital and a professor of surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York City. He is a world leader in the treatment of pleural mesothelioma.
Our fact-checking process begins with a thorough review of all sources to ensure they are high quality. Then we cross-check the facts with original medical or scientific reports published by those sources, or we validate the facts with reputable news organizations, medical and scientific experts and other health experts. Each page includes all sources for full transparency.
Please read our editorial guidelines to learn more about our content creation and review process.
