Asbestos Exposure

February 24, 2015

Asbestos-Related Illness Inspiration for Recent Novel

According to a recent news feature from Western News, H.M. Bowker has written a novel loosely based on her life in Libby, Montana. She has lost her father, two brothers, a sister and sister’s husband all to asbestos-related illness. Much of this was incorporated into her novel.

Libby, Montana is the site of the largest and oldest vermiculite mine in the United States, and was heavily used during much of last century. W.R. Grace owned this mine and employed many workers during its operation from 1920 to the 1980s. Town residents were constantly being exposed to vermiculite, as it was literally covering much of the town. Bowker recalls there was a pile of vermiculite near a baseball field and local kids would pretend it was snow and play with, or even lie in it, making vermiculite angels with their arms.

Vermiculite, like asbestos, is a naturally occurring silica compound that is resistant to heat and fire and was often used as an insulation material and to give commercial and consumer products heat and fire resistant properties. However, due its chemical similarity to asbestos, asbestos is often found in vermiculite as the elements formed in the same environment.
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February 21, 2015

Serious Asbestos Exposure Risk Leads to Federal Prison

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Asbestos is a naturally-occurring substance, which was heavily used during the industrial revolution in the United States and Europe. Its use was so prevalent due to its abundance, low cost and effectiveness at resisting heat, fire, caustic chemicals and electricity.

The nearly total ban on asbestos products in the developed world is because asbestos fibers are extremely toxic. Once inhaled, these fibers become lodged in the lungs and tissues known as the mesothelium where they can metastasize into a deadly form of cancer known as mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, and other respiratory illness. Doctors have no effective means to remove the fibers, or even detect their presence. After a period of 20 to 50 years, any illness caused by these fibers will typically present painful and debilitating symptoms. By the time a patient knows he or she is suffering, and goes to a doctor, it is usually too late for any effective treatment and patients may only have a short time to live – often times less than a year.

What makes matters more horrific is those in the asbestos industry were well aware of these risks long before the general public. Companies actually took steps to hide this information and even marketed their products as being safe when concerns did arise. Today, asbestos is hardly used in the United States, but there is still much of the toxic substance present in Massachusetts and across the world.
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February 12, 2015

Frozen Water Pipes Can Lead to Asbestos Exposure

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In cold Massachusetts winters, frozen pipes are always a concern. Many people take steps to prevent pipes from freezing, such as buying insulation, putting heaters in basements, and buying foam covers for outdoor or underground water faucets.

While most people are aware a frozen pipe can burst, causing a great deal of property damage, they can also cause serious health concerns, such as exposing residents to lead and asbestos in older buildings. According to a recent news feature from Consumer Affairs, while most pipes in your home are heated and safe from freezing, problems can arise when a heater fails or if the pipe is an unheated area in or around your home.

When water inside a pipe freezes, it will expand due to physical properties of water. When it expands, there is nowhere for the water and ice to escape, so it puts increased pressure on the pipe. When the pressure gets too high, the pipe will fail and burst apart. It doesn’t matter if the pipe is made of metal, PVC, or another type of plastic resin. Once a pipe bursts, a stream of water is often released into the building.
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February 3, 2015

Asbestos-Laden Old Sign Shop Turned into Boston Homeless Shelter

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Harsh Boston winters can be particularly hard on the city’s many homeless who are confined to outside. In an effort to find more temporary housing for homeless residents of Boston, the city has opened a new homeless shelter in what was once a sign shop operated by the city of Boston.

The industrial space used for the homeless shelter, according to a recent news article from the Boston Globe, house the old sign shop less than a month ago. It contained asbestos tiles throughout the building, and most of the windows were broken with cracked frames. The building was also filled with tools and metal scraps used to make street signs, parking meters, and traffic signal lights. The walls were covered with plaster, which also contained asbestos.

While renovation projects like this normally take years, teams of private contractors were brought in and worked around the clock to remove all remnants of the old sign shop, complete all asbestos abatement (removal), and renovate the structure.
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January 30, 2015

Asbestos Concerns a Part of Fight for New Bridge in Boston

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

There is no question traffic is a major problem in Boston. Many of the roads and bridges were built at a time when such a high volume of traffic was never contemplated. Much has been done in the past couple of decades to alleviate traffic. Anyone living in Boston in the late 1990s and early 2000s remembers the Big Dig project to replace the central artery bridges with an underground highway.

Now a fight between residents and Department of Transportation has arisen over the fate of the Casey Arborway overpass. City officials intend to demolish the bridge and replace it with a series of surface streets designed to facilitate flow of traffic. Many residents feel a bridge is needed, so their respective back yards do not become parking lots full of vehicles stuck in traffic. Some have suggested the existing overpass be restored and used in the new project. City officials seem steadfast in their desire to demolish the bridge, and the project is underway.
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January 19, 2015

Asbestos Victims Fight to Ban Toxic Material

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Humans have mined asbestos for thousands of years, because it is a cheap naturally-occurring substance resistant to heat, fire, chemicals and electricity, and can easily be refined into consumer and industrial products. It was heavily used during the industrial revolution and still used until it was largely outlawed in the United States in the 1970s. However, despite the known risks, asbestos is still being using in minute quantities in developed nations and largely used in developing nations.
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January 15, 2015

Wannall v. Honeywell, Inc.: Evidence in Mesothelioma Cases

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Wannall v. Honeywell, Inc., a mesothelioma appeals case from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, involved plaintiff who was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma. Malignant mesothelioma is rare form of cancer most commonly caused by exposure to asbestos.

Soon after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, plaintiff and his wife filed a civil lawsuit. In this lawsuit, plaintiff was seeking damages from several defendants alleged to have manufactured asbestos to which he was exposed. Plaintiff died a short time after this lawsuit. His wife opened a probate estate and assumed plaintiff’s role in her capacity as administrator of his estate. His wife dismissed her personal cause of action and proceeded only on behalf of the estate.
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January 12, 2015

Asbestos Removal Process at Old Plymouth Court House

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Much like many old buildings across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Plymouth courthouse was built in the 1800s with asbestos-laden materials. The building has sat vacant for years with boarded-up windows while town officials tried to come up with a plan or a buyer willing to deal with the expensive asbestos abatement process.

According to a recent news article from WATD, officials desire to raze the old building and replace it with a new town hall government complex. The town will also tear down the old Department of Public Works building and Commissioners building, which are in the same vicinity as the courthouse.
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January 4, 2015

Boston-Based Firm to Fund Mesothelioma Research

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Malignant mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that is almost always associated with exposure to asbestos. When asbestos fibers are inhaled, they can become embedded in the lungs and other tissue known as the mesothelium. There is no way for doctors to see if the microscopic fibers are present without cutting a portion of the patient’s tissues and sending it to a pathology lab. There are also no symptoms for the first 20 to 50 years following exposure in most cases. While occasionally a tumor is found during an unrelated surgery, most patients do not find out until the disease is in a very advanced stage. Once an asbestos-related illness diagnosis is made, the patient is usually close to dying.
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January 3, 2015

Appellate Court Reversed Ruling that Five Days of Asbestos Exposure was Insufficient to Cause Cancer

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Proving when and where asbestos exposure occurred is often a critical element in mesothelioma injury lawsuits. According to a recent news article from the Louisiana Record, the state court of appeals has vacated a dismissal of an asbestosis lawsuit, holding that jury could find five days of asbestos exposure was sufficient to cause the deadly form of cancer.

The court opinion filed on December 10, 2014 involved a plaintiff who alleged he contracted asbestosis while working at various jobs between 1953 and 2006. One of his jobs was working as a pipefitter at a factory for five days. While on that job, he installed and removed asbestos-laden gaskets. In this case, plaintiff and his wife alleged asbestos exposure during this five-day period was a substantial contributing factor to his developing asbestosis. His other responsibilities during that short timeframe involved cleaning up asbestos debris from other workers at the factory.

Plaintiff’s expert testified at trial this five-day exposure was likely above what we currently know to be safe occupational limits of asbestos exposure, and he opined this would have been a significant contributing factor in plaintiff’s illness.
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