The way an agent enters your body also can make a difference in what happens to you. For example, breathing asbestos fibers causes cancer or other harm to the lungs. Swallowing asbestos fibers can cause damage in the stomach, colon or other digestive organs. There are four main ways that harmful agents can enter your body. You can breathe in chemicals, some that you cannot even see or smell.
Workers can swallow chemicals in different ways.
You can swallow chemicals along with your food if you do not wash your hands after handling chemicals. In dusty areas you can swallow chemicals such as lead or asbestos particles that are in the air or that land on food or in drinks. Some diseases, such as hepatitis A, are spread by eating food that is contaminated with the hepatitis A virus. Other germs can be swallowed if you eat or touch your mouth without proper hand washing after touching soiled linens or other items. Many chemicals and some types of radiation can pass right through your skin.