BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – We like to think of asbestos as a problem of the past, something that has been “done away with” back in the '80s and '90s. But sadly, for hundreds of thousands of Americans, it is still very much at the front of the mind. The many debilitating conditions that may occur as a result of exposure to asbestos can take years, often decades to reach their full effect. Someone who inhaled the toxic fibers 10 or 30 years ago, may just now begin to suffer the consequences. Asbestosis and lung cancer are the asbestos diseases affecting the greatest number of Americans, but the condition most closely associated with the toxic mineral is mesothelioma.