Even though asbestos use has been minimized in the wake of concerns over exposure and health deterioration, the long latency period impacts workers who were exposed decades ago and either didn't know it, or didn't know the dangers. They're just now coming to terms with the dire health consequences, and are seeking compensation as a result.
And if you were under the impression that asbestos is totally banned and not around anymore - think again.That's probably what Louie Fittz would have been thinking, after hearing about the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ban on asbestos in 1989. Of course it wouldn't have helped him; Fittz was exposed to asbestos over an extended period of time - 21 years - from 1964 to 1985, prior to the 'ban' taking effect.
His health seemed fine until January 3rd of this year when Fittz was diagnosed with a malignant, asbestos-related disease, which he will not name. Even though it has been 22 years since his last known exposure to asbestos, the long latency period explains why it took him 22 years to become sick.
He is suing American Optical Corp. along with 15 other companies for 'negligently exposing him to asbestos" while "fraudulently concealing" the mineral's latent dangers. As part of his job as a pipe fitter and welder for a number of area plants in, and around Jefferson County, Fittz claims that he was required to handle a large quantity of asbestos products. The suit was filed in Jefferson County District Court July 23rd.
There is no question that asbestos kills. Hence the push to mitigate its presence by switching to different products for manufacturing, or the removal of old wallboard or insulation in schools and public buildings. Long considered an effective fire retardant in a previous era, asbestos was often used in things like insulation.
Today, society as a whole knows all about asbestos, and what it can do.
However, most people operate under the false belief that asbestos has been banned entirely.
Not so.
The EPA attempted to ban asbestos back in 1989, and most of us heard about the ban - or more correctly, the attempt at the ban.
However, what many don't realize is that while the EPA sanctioned the banning of most asbestos-based product on July 12, 1989 - the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned the EPA decision two years later.
The result is a watered-down ban that doesn't even ban asbestos at all - but rather identifies which uses are approved, and which are not. Still on the banned list according to the appeals court are: flooring felt, rollboard, and corrugated, commercial, or specialty paper. In addition, the regulation continues to ban the use of asbestos in products that have not historically contained asbestos, otherwise referred to as "new uses" of asbestos.
However, asbestos-based products which are not subject to the ban at the behest of the Court and are still in use include: asbestos-cement corrugated sheet, asbestos-cement flat sheet, asbestos clothing, pipeline wrap, roofing felt, vinyl-asbestos floor tile, asbestos-cement shingle, millboard, asbestos-cement pipe, automatic transmission components, clutch facings, friction materials, disc brake pads, drum brake linings, brake blocks, gaskets, non-roofing coatings, and roof coatings.
If you work with any of these materials, you could be at risk for asbestos exposure.
Diseases that have shown to be linked with asbestos exposure include cancers of the larynx, stomach, colon and rectum. Pulmonary asbestosis is caused when asbestos particles are inhaled and result in scarring of lung tissue.
Similarly, malignant mesothelioma is a rare cancer that attacks the lining of the lung (pleural mesothelioma) or abdomen (peritoneal mesothelioma). Both share asbestos as the only known cause in North America. The latency period - in other words, the time it takes between exposure and when symptoms first start appearing, together with a diagnosis - can be anywhere from 20 to 40 years or more. In rare cases, the latency period is 10-15 years.
In this way, a lot of people don't know they have it until years later. Often, it is too late by the time they do.
Thurman Cash is a jack-of-all-trades, with time spent working at shipyards, steel mills, refineries, paper mills, chemical plants, the military, and other facilities in the U.S. throughout his working career.
Cash figures he was exposed to asbestos at all of his jobs, and is therefore suing more than 70 companies by way of a 9-count personal injury lawsuit. He filed, also in Jefferson County District Court, on July 19th.
The estate of William Holmes is also litigating, claiming that the colon cancer, which claimed his life on March 1, 2006, was caused by asbestos exposure. In yet another filing with Jefferson County District Court, the action was launched July 12th.
It's been reported that asbestos has been around, in one form or another, for 2000 years. Eradicating it completely from our world is no small task, and as noted earlier its use is still sanctioned in certain applications, while banned in others. In both situations, it represents a minefield as workers as long as 40 years ago toiled in an environment that, unbeknownst to them at the time, had the potential to slowly kill them. Others may be handling asbestos right now and not know it, thinking in error that the stuff was banned completely from current use.
In a cruel irony, many workers charged with the task of asbestos removal for reasons of safety, are finding that they, themselves have been hit with asbestos-related maladies.
Whatever the case, asbestos is a known carcinogen and has been banned in most applications. In that for which it is still used, asbestos handling must be tightly controlled. U.S. Senator Patty Murray is attempting to have asbestos banned completely, but she is not expected to be successful.
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Some of the judgements can be quite substantial. Last year a lawsuit filed by a former teacher and foundry worker (who died in March of this year) was awarded damages totalling $3.8 million.