Asbestos dust in suspension in the air settles in the miners' lungs. The disease is hard to diagnose; its symptoms are a dry, fitful cough and inflammation of the lungs. Figure 1 shows an X-ray of the lungs of a miner afflicted with this disease. Notice the lesions in the lower part of the lungs, and the small dark spots in the upper part. Figure 2 shows a miner's sputum under a microscope. Those tiny, barbell-shaped rods are slivers of asbestos. They irritate the lungs and finally paralyse them. The victim dies very slowly of chronic pulmonary insufficiency. Asbestosis may also cause other diseases: pulmonary congestion, cancer, tuberculosis, heart disease and bronchitis.
