Awareness about the harmful asbestos effects on children among the parents and general public is what is required today to put more pressure on governments and regulating agencies to take adequate steps in eliminating asbestos and protecting children from asbestos deadly effects. Parents are more concerned about the dangerous asbestos effects on children ever since it has been established that asbestos can cause deadly diseases among the adults. Asbestos effects on children are observed most in those who live or study in buildings where asbestos was used as one of the building material. Asbestos fibers can also be picked by them while doing outdoor activities like playing in a ground that has an old asbestos track or camping in places where the levels of asbestos are higher than normal.
                     Harmful asbestos effects on children occur when they like adults breathe in the air that contains high levels of asbestos fibers. Breathing process in children is different from adult and they also have lung structure that is different from adults. Although it is not confirmed that different breathing process and lung structure can lead to more absorption of asbestos fibers when inhaled in children than adults, however, as the lung tissue in children are more tender and developing can easily be penetrated by asbestos fiber. Asbestos effects on children can also take place by drinking water that is contaminated by asbestos fibers as children need to take in more fluids as compared to adults. Eating soil or dust that contains asbestos is another way by which children especially toddlers get exposed to asbestos fibers. Young children also eat more soil or dust particles than adults that get into their mouth from their hand. It is also established that chances of getting affected by asbestos increases in those children who live in families where some of its members work in industries that uses asbestos to manufacture products and materials
                     As the asbestos fibers stick to the clothes and shoes of the people working in asbestos environment, they carry them to their homes exposing other family members including children to the harmful asbestos effects. Many children also experience the harmful effects of asbestos by living in homes and studying at schools were asbestos was commonly used. Most of the schools and homes built during 1950s and 1960s used asbestos because of its insulating and acoustic properties and steps have not been taken yet to remove or contain the asbestos exposure in those buildings. Dust from the playing fields and tracks made from asbestos are other sources of asbestos fibers that can affect children.
                    Intake or inhaling of asbestos fibers can cause various harmful asbestos effects on children. It can trigger asthma and bronchitis at very early age in children. Other harmful asbestos effects on children include difficulty in breathing, appetite loss, anemia, fatigue, asbestosis and most dangerous of all lung cancer and mesothelioma. Most of these deadly asbestos effects on children like lung cancer and mesothelioma do not appear immediately after the exposure to the asbestos fibers. They usually take decades, most of the time 50 years, to develop and that is when the initial symptoms of deadly asbestos effects appear. This is why the effects of asbestos are seen among most of the children. But since the latency period of diseases caused by asbestos exposure is very long, children exposed to it at very young age are more likely to develop these deadly diseases later on in their lives.
                  Some cases were observed in order to determine whether diseases caused by the deadly asbestos effects on children develop faster than adults or not. So far no evidence is found to confirm the faster growth of asbestos diseases in children. It is also established that fetuses and developing infants do not get exposed asbestos through placenta or breast feeding.