Asbestos-Related Illness Lawyers
Missouri • Kansas • Southern Illinois
Asbestos is resistant to both heat and fire; it does not conduct electricity [1]. These qualities made asbestos a popular manufacturing compound from the 1880s through the 1970s [2]. Asbestos was added to a variety of products including insulation, automotive parts, fireproofing, pipe covering, cements, floor tiles and joint compounds.
Asbestos can make people sick when it is inhaled. Asbestos is associated with various forms of lung disease, including:
- Mesothelioma
- Non-small cell lung cancer
- Pleural plaquing
- Asbestosis [3].
The U.S. Bureau of Mines notified companies in 1932 that asbestos was a known danger to exposed workers [4]. Rather than protect workers, manufacturers instead began a systematic campaign to suppress reports and publications which reported on these dangers [5]. One company big shot even said that they "saved a lot of money" by refusing to notify workers of the dangers of asbestos [6].
Despite the known dangers, asbestos is still used in American manufacturing.
Many people believe that asbestos was banned from production in the U. S. but this is not true. Legislation to completely ban the use of asbestos in American manufacturing has either been overturned by the courts or has died in Congress [7].
Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned all new uses of asbestos in 1989, existing uses developed before 1989 are still allowed [8]. Asbestos is still allowed-and widely used-in products manufactured today. These products include:
- Asbestos-cement sheets and pipes
- Asbestos clothing
- Pipeline wrap
- Roofing materials
Contact the Attorneys of Brown & Crouppen
If you have been exposed to asbestos, contact our law firm toll free at 888-842-7944 or use our online contact form, to discuss your legal rights. There is no charge for your initial conversation with one of our experienced attorneys.
[1] http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/asbestos
[2] http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/asbestos
[3] http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/asbestos
[4] Paul Brodeur (1985). Outrageous Misconduct: The Asbestos Industry on Trial (1st ed.). Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-394-53320-8.
[5] Paul Brodeur (1985). Outrageous Misconduct: The Asbestos Industry on Trial (1st ed.). Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-394-53320-8.
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos#History_of_health_concerns_and_regulation
[7] http://www.ewg.org/sites/asbestos/facts/fact5.php
[8] http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/asbestos
