The case of a British man who worked in construction for a very brief time illustrates that there is no safe level of asbestos exposure and how long it can take for mesothelioma symptoms to appear.

Stefan Mazurkiewicz worked with sheets of asbestos for a only four weeks during his employment at a construction firm in Derby, UK.

Before he die last year, he described his asbestos exposure as “substantial” and said the particles which settled on his clothes during his work left him looking “like a baker.”

H said his employers had told him the type of asbestos he was working with was harmless. He was  provided with no protective clothing.

But, it was 34 years before he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a deadly form of lung cancer experts say can only be contracted through exposure to asbestos.

Pathologist Dr Andrew Hitchcock told an inquest that recent cases suggested asbestos workers were dying 30 to 40 years after exposure, although he had known cases where the latent period was even longer.

“Someone who fought during the Second World War died recently having been exposed to asbestos. The latent period is extensive,” he said. “It’s a characteristic of the disease. I don’t have any problem with attributing [this cancer] with his association with asbestos over a four-week period.”