Asbestos Exposure

How Does Asbestos Exposure Happen?

Asbestos fibers can be released into the air when material containing asbestos is disturbed, broken or crushed, such as during use, demolition work, building or home maintenance, repair, remodeling, and in the manufacturing of products that contain asbestos.

Because of the fibers’ natural resistance to heat and fire, asbestos was commonly used in a wide range of building construction materials like insulation, roof shingles, ceiling, floor tiles, paper products, and cement products. Asbestos can also be found in friction products like automobile clutches, brakes and transmission parts, heat-resistant fabrics, packaging, gaskets, and coatings.

When asbestos fibers are inhaled, they can stick to mucus in the throat, trachea, or bronchi (large breathing tubes in the lungs). From here, the fibers can be cleared by being coughed up or swallowed. Some fibers can work their way to the ends of the small airways in the lungs or penetrate the outer lining of the lung and chest wall, called the pleura. These fibers can irritate cells in the lung or pleura and eventually develop into mesothelioma.

Workplace Exposure

More than 100 years ago, asbestos was linked to serious illnesses including mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis, a progressive lung disease caused by severe fibrosis. Because the onset of mesothelioma symptoms can take anywhere from 15 to 50 years, asbestos exposure often was missed as a cause of a worker’s illness. Mesothelioma symptoms are often mistaken for other, more common, illnesses until the connection is made between asbestos exposure and the symptoms.

Once asbestos became known as a carcinogen, its use in the U.S. declined. Those who work in environments where asbestos is present are now required to wear protective clothing such as coveralls or similar full-body clothing, head covering, gloves, and foot coverings. Despite these protective measures, people can still be exposed to asbestos in the workplace. The U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OHSA) recently estimated that more than a million American employees in construction and general industries face significant asbestos exposure on the job.

The mining and use of asbestos continue in other parts of the world including the Russian Federation, China, Kazakhstan, Brazil and Zimbabwe. Canada stopped mining asbestos in 2011 and completely banned the manufacture, import, export, sale and use of asbestos and asbestos-containing products as of Dec. 30, 2018. In 2005, the World Health Organization estimated that 125 million people have been exposed to the carcinogenic mineral at their job sites.

Despite the known risks of asbestos exposure, it has still not been completely banned in the United States.

Secondary Exposure

People with primary asbestos exposure tend to be those who worked in environments that were contaminated with asbestos. But these workers can bring home asbestos fibers on their bodies, clothing and shoes, putting family members – spouses, children and parents – at risk for secondary asbestos exposure.

For example, washing the clothes of someone whose clothes are contaminated with asbestos can increase the risk of secondary asbestos exposure, which can lead to the development of mesothelioma.

Men are more likely to have mesothelioma through workplace exposure, as traditionally more men have worked in manufacturing and industry jobs while their wives stayed home and did household chores, like laundry. A 1997 study conducted by Durham and Duke University Medical Centers involving women with mesothelioma found that more than half of them were victims of secondary asbestos exposure either from a parent, spouse or child working in asbestos-contaminated environments.

Asbestos can also be found in talc, another mineral found naturally in rock. Talc is used to make talcum powders used in personal hygiene, including baby powders, and some cosmetics, increasing risk for non-occupational or secondary asbestos exposure. Testing has even found asbestos in products marketed to children.

Asbestos Injury Cover-Ups

Decades after the dangers of asbestos had become widely known, some companies continued to try to cover up evidence that their workplaces were toxic to workers and their families.

The EWG Action Fund/Asbestos Nation is a nonprofit organization that works to protect health and the environment by educating the public and lobbying on a wide variety of environmental issues. The organization called the attempt of corporations and their lawyers to hide the risks of asbestos a “70-year conspiracy,” and references numerous examples of how the asbestos industries paid tens of millions of dollars to sway public opinion about asbestos and protect their profits.

The asbestos industry is not finished. A well-funded lobbying effort is currently underway at both the state and federal levels pushing legislation that would make it more difficult for asbestos victims and their families to be compensated by corporations responsible for making them sick.

All too often these giant corporations are choosing profits over people and until they are forced to pay they will continue on with their blatant disregard for the health and well-being of their employees and their consumers. An experienced asbestos lawyer can help families make it through a very difficult time and make certain the manufacturers of these unsafe asbestos products compensate victims fairly.