Overview

Injury: Diseases caused by asbestos exposure such as mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis.

Defendant: Companies liable for individuals’ exposure to asbestos, including manufacturers, employers, and property owners.

Practice: Asbestos

Case Team

Principal Attorneys: Laci M. Whitley, Josh Grumke, Lawrence Holcomb

Principal Paralegal: Angel Goodman, Ashley Harper, Celia Pellegrino

Legal Assistant: Jamie Koehr

Table Of Contents

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Sources of Asbestos Exposure: Jobs, Homes, Military Service, and More

Asbestos is a highly toxic building material that has been linked to life-threatening health conditions and harmful health effects including mesothelioma, adenocarcinoma, ovarian cancer, and lung cancer. Exposure to asbestos comes from a variety of sources, including high-risk occupations, military service, and old homes and buildings.

Diseases caused by asbestos often don’t develop until decades after exposure, which can make it difficult to track down the source of your illness. Our team of asbestos attorneys is here to help you investigate your asbestos exposure and fight for the compensation that you and your family deserve.

Injury

Mesothelioma caused by asbestos fibers

The mesothelium is a thin layer of tissue that makes up the lining of the lungs, chest wall, and other organs. Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive form of cancer in this tissue that is caused by asbestos exposure.

Mesothelioma often develops decades after asbestos exposure. While there are treatments for the disease, there is currently no cure. Malignant mesothelioma can occur in the lungs, abdomen, and elsewhere. Symptoms depend on the location of the cancer cells, but may include:

Pain in the chest or abdomen
Unexplained weight loss
Fatigue

Cancer risk and other asbestos-related diseases

A build-up of asbestos fibers in the lungs poses a significant health risk and has been linked to a number of other cancers, including lung, laryngeal, and ovarian cancer. Exposure to asbestos may also increase the risk of health problems including asbestosis, a chronic lung disease that causes inflammation and can lead to permanent lung damage.

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Plaintiff & Defendant

How are people exposed to asbestos?

As a cheap, effective building material component, asbestos was used heavily in commercial and manufacturing applications for most of the 1900s. Its use was once so common that every building constructed before the 1980s likely contains some form of asbestos.

Asbestos-containing building materials (ACBMs) were used for many purposes, including:

Wall, ceiling, and beam insulation
Plumbing
Heating
HVAC
Fire retardant materials
Automotive parts including packaging, coatings, and gaskets
Floor tiles
Roofing materials
Heat resistant fabrics

Asbestos-containing materials can release particles and fibers into the air when disturbed during activities like demolition, maintenance, or remodeling. Too small to detect with the human eye, these fibers can then be inhaled and become lodged in lung tissue. Over years, they can cause serious health conditions including lung disease, mesothelioma, and asbestosis.

Individuals may develop asbestos-related diseases as a result of:

Occupational asbestos exposure

Some professions carry a high risk of asbestos exposure. Insulation products, construction materials, patching compounds, brakes and clutches, packing materials, fire-retardant materials, and many other products contain asbestos. Since asbestos fibers are only dangerous when the materials break down or degrade, people who work with these products are exposed to concentrations many times higher than the general public.

Individuals at high risk include:

Construction workers
Miners
Auto mechanics
Dock and shipyard workers
Workers at chemical, metal, and power plants
Millwrights
Insulators
Electricians
Workers at oil refineries
Plumbers
Demolition workers
Firefighters
Asbestos removal workers
Pipefitters

Military service

Asbestos is common in vehicles, ships, and aircraft built by the U.S. military in the 1900s. As a result, the rates of mesothelioma and other illnesses related to asbestos is much higher in veterans, especially Navy veterans, than in the general population. 30 percent of people diagnosed with mesothelioma in the U.S. served in the military.

Exposure in older homes, schools, and workplaces

Because asbestos was so common for much of the 20th century, many older buildings contain ACBMs. As these asbestos materials degrade over time, they pose an increased risk to people living, working, and learning in those buildings.

Proximity to mines or production facilities

People who live near asbestos mines or processing facilities have a higher risk of exposure. They may inhale asbestos released into the air or encounter it via secondhand exposure.

Secondhand exposure to asbestos

Also called indirect or secondary exposure, secondhand exposure occurs in people who did not come into direct contact with asbestos. This is most often family members of people who worked with the material and unknowingly brought fibers home on their clothing or body.

Who can you hold liable for asbestos exposure?

Defendants in asbestos lawsuits may include employers who exposed workers to asbestos, manufacturers of products containing asbestos, mine owners, owners of properties containing ACBMs, or a combination of the above.

Because mesothelioma and other diseases take so long to develop, it can be difficult to determine the cause of exposure. Our team of attorneys works with individuals to investigate their medical and employment history and find out who was responsible for their illness.

Who can you hold liable for asbestos exposure?

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Landscape

Asbestos was first produced commercially in 1879 for use in insulation. The first recorded case of an asbestos-related disease occurred in 1899 and the first article on the dangers of asbestos fibers was published in a medical journal in 1924.

Despite the availability of information on the dangers of asbestos, it continued to be used widely in the U.S. through most of the 1900s. In 1973, the first successful asbestos litigation was filed on behalf of an insulation worker. Although he passed away before the case was settled, his family received almost $80,000 in compensation.

Although health administration agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency have restricted the use of asbestos in the U.S., the material is still legal in some capacities and continues to be sold in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization, more than 200,000 deaths around the world are caused by occupational exposure to asbestos every year.

Q&A

What jobs carry the highest risk of asbestos exposure?

Many materials used for manufacturing and commercial purposes contain asbestos, including building materials, fire retardant fabric, floor tiles, automotive parts, and plumbing parts. Individuals at high risk of asbestos exposure include construction workers, miners, auto mechanics, shipyard workers, power plant workers, insulators, electricians, plumbers, firefighters, pipefitters, and more.

Why do veterans have a higher risk of asbestos-related diseases?

Asbestos was widely used as a construction material in vehicles, ships, and aircraft built by the U.S. military. As a result, veterans experience mesothelioma and other asbestos-related illnesses at much higher rates than the general population.

What is secondhand exposure?

Secondhand or indirect asbestos exposure occurs when workers exposed to asbestos carry home fibers or dust on their clothing or body, unknowingly exposing their family members.

Wallace Miller Partner Laci M. Whitley.

Contact

The asbestos team at Wallace Miller

Tens of thousands of Americans die from diseases related to asbestos every year. These individuals not only face physical and emotional suffering, but also deal with financial pressure from loss of wages, medical bills, and other expenses.

Our team of asbestos attorneys and legal professionals has more than 35 years of cumulative experience representing people who are suffering as a result of asbestos exposure. We can help you investigate the source of your health effects and fight for the compensation you and your family need. Reach out to the Wallace Miller team at (312) 634-6510 or via our online case evaluation for a free and confidential consultation.