Most cases of mesothelioma patients have been registered with some sort of connection with asbestos although there are also some cases without indications leading to exposures of the patients to asbestos particles. With these cases, reasons such as intrapleural throium dioxide, inhaling erionite and irradiation are speculated as the culprit.

Asbestos is utilized in processing a large number of items including, textiles, roofing material, cement, brake linings, flooring items, insulation etc. When manufacturing these products, small particles of asbestos are airborne and those who are in the surrounding areas inhale them. Compared to any other substances that we inhale accidentally, asbestos is not harmless and can have life threatening affects such as mesothelioma. It is not only mesothelioma ailment but also other diseases such as lung cancer, asbestosis, and larynx and kidney cancers are in the list of asbestos associated diseases.

In addition, when a person smokes heavily, it may further enhance the risk of having mesothelioma. In the past, some cigarette brands have used asbestos substances for manufacturing their filters and people who smoked them were reported to have been infected with mesothelioma through the cigarette filters. However this old process is no longer in effect and thus it is not related with such incidents. Other than this, a virus called simian has been found to have some connection with mesothelioma cancers.

In the past days, many cases of mesothelioma have been recorded in USA among employees deployed in asbestos related factories. The workers who worked in shipyards have been found to have mesothelioma at a significant level as early as 1940s. But today, the US government has imposed laws to keep working places free from asbestos and the working environment is within the safety levels. The British government too has activated laws to safeguard employees in asbestos related manufacturing places.

Nevertheless, there are still countries that do not regulate efficient laws to protect workers in such places and many mesothelioma cases have been accounted every year owing to negligence of the relevant authorities of this dreadful subject.