Asbestos can travel on work clothing into the home and family vehicles, exposing spouses and children.

This is known as second-hand asbestos exposure.

Also known as:

Domestic asbestos exposure
Secondary asbestos exposure
Household asbestos exposure
Take home asbestos exposure
Para-occupational asbestos exposure.

Many people who had second-hand asbestos exposure as children developed asbestos-related diseases later in life, even though they never worked around asbestos.

Rise and Fall of Asbestos?

Asbestos was considered a miracle substance for its wonderful properties throughout the ages. Asbestos gained immense importance in the 1900s as a material that could withstand heat, resist electricity, and prevent corrosion. These properties were used effectively in more than 3,000 products with asbestos containing materials (ACM) across a variety of industries.

ACMs began to be used on ships, automobiles, house construction, and a host of other products. ACMs were used extensively in sound-proofing materials, firefighting equipment, military equipment and clothing, and decorative materials like false ceilings and plaster boards.

The dream run of asbestos came to an end abruptly when health research studies linked asbestos exposure to various non-cancerous diseases like asbestosis and cancerous diseases like mesothelioma. Researchers and scientists in Germany in 1943, South Africa in 1960, United States in 1964, and Britain in 1968 conducted studies to link asbestos to various diseases, including mesothelioma and asbestosis. These and other diseases linked to asbestos are known as asbestos-related diseases (ARD).

If you may have been exposed to asbestos, speak with your healthcare provider about tests and screening to help detect the presence of asbestos fibers and asbestos-related diseases.

Why and How is Asbestos Dangerous?

Simply, asbestos has been proven to be a carcinogenic mineral, which is the main cause of mesothelioma and asbestosis, as described above.

The asbestos mineral is fibrous in nature, made up of millions of flexible fibers. When asbestos is damaged or disturbed, the fibers are released into the air. The asbestos fiber is microscopic, meaning not visible to the naked eye. A microscope is needed to see them.

Asbestos is most dangerous when it crumbles into fibers that can become airborne. This is known as friable asbestos.

Asbestos products that are friable are generally quite loose and, when dry, can be crumbled into fine material or dust with light pressure, such as crushing with hand.

In general, products with ACMs are safe when they perform their functions. For instance, ACMs in a false ceiling at home or office are perfectly safe as long as the false ceiling is left undisturbed. The trouble starts when the false ceiling is damaged and the ACMs in the damaged portion get disturbed. This disturbance causes the asbestos in the ACMs to be released into the air.

As mentioned, asbestos fibers and dust are microscopic in nature and these can get into the lungs of people through the airways. This is when the trouble starts for people who inhale asbestos fibers or dust.

Primary Asbestos Exposure

As a mineral, asbestos is mined and people working in these mines are exposed to asbestos. Similarly, people undertaking downstream activities like loading, transporting, unloading, and processing were also routinely exposed to asbestos. Further, people working in industries that produce ACMs are also exposed to asbestos.

Primary asbestos exposure generally refers to this kind of occupational exposure.

People who worked in these industries or professions prior to 1982 may be at risk of developing significant health problems:

Construction	Factories	Foundries	Refineries	Shipyards	Mining / Milling
Demolition	Insulation	Steelworkers	Pipe Fitting	Shipbuilding	Mechanics
Roofing	Textiles	Iron workers	Boilers	Firefighting	Brake Repair
Flooring	Cement	Electricians	Gasket Repair	Railroad	HVAC

Do You Qualify For Compensation?

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Second-hand Asbestos Exposure

Second-hand Asbestos Exposure and Children

For many decades, asbestos companies were not honest about the dangers of their products, and millions of industrial workers were eexposd to asbestos without any protective gear, air cleaning equipment, filters or even masks to prevent asbestos diseases like lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma.

So those workers often had asbestos dust on their work clothes, shoes and tools, and brought this asbestos with them into family vehicles and homes. As such, those primarily exposed to asbestos can become sources of secondary exposure to asbestos.

Family members – including children – not only came into regular contact with them before the asbestos-contaminated clothing and dust was removed and washed. Spouses and children also spent time in vehicles and enclosed spaces like garages and laundry rooms, and in many cases even participated in washing the asbestos-covered clothing.

Environmental / Second-hand asbestos exposure

Similarly, areas nearby asbestos mines can be sources of second-hand asbestos exposure because the asbestos fibers and dust can be carried by the wind to nearby homes, offices, parks, and places of interest.

Yet another source of second-hand asbestos exposure is natural disasters like hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, and tornadoes and manmade disasters like the destruction of the World Trade Center Towers.

All these are sources of Second-hand asbestos exposure.

Children are perhaps more vulnerable than adults to be affected by Second-hand asbestos exposure. However, they have a longer life to lead than their elders and therefore they face a higher risk of ARDs because of latency factor and dose response.

Latency and Dose Factors in Asbestos Exposure

Two important factors to understand with respect to the health dangers of asbestos: latency factor and dose-response.

ARDs can appear many years after asbestos exposure because of the latency factor, which can take as many as 50 years to show up as an ARD and during this period the persons affected would not even know that they have ARD. One peculiar characteristic of ARDs is the absence of symptoms.

Asbestosis generally takes between 15 and 20 years to show up on a chest x-ray.

Similarly, dose response is another factor to be considered in the case of ARDs. Dose-response disease is one in which the more people are exposed to asbestos the higher the risk for developing the disease. Imagine the risk to children living with people who worked in jobs with high asbestos exposure.

Thus, latency factor and dose-response can affect children the most because they have a longer life to lead, and more time for asbestos-related diseases to develop.

How do children end up inhaling asbestos fibers or dust?

It is possible that people who were exposed to asbestos, especially those working in:

Asbestos mines
Construction work
Demolition or renovation of buildings
The military working on equipment with ACMs, working on naval shipyards, working on naval ships, working on breaking of ships
Rescue work during fires, natural and manmade disasters

These and others who have worked in avocations where primary asbestos exposure is high can carry asbestos fibers and dust on their person, clothing, tools, documents, folders and footwear thereby bringing asbestos fibers and dust into homes with children.

They can also contaminate their vehicles with asbestos fibers and dust besides other enclosed areas like laundry rooms, garage, and family vehicles.

Do You Qualify For Compensation?

Quickly and easily find out how you were exposed by searching W.A.R.D., the largest asbestos database on the planet.

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Asbestos Claims and Compensation for Second-hand Asbestos Exposure

Children are at risk of acquiring ARDs because of Second-hand asbestos exposure. They can suffer from ARDs long after being under the influence of Second-hand asbestos exposure. As seen earlier, the latency factor and dose-response determine the type of ARDs, which could include asbestosis, pleural plaques, mesothelioma and other cancers.

Parents of children should get in touch with a competent asbestos lawyer who can help claim compensation after studying their cases.

There are several types of legal claims that can be made for children suffering from ARDs. These depend on a variety of factors that the expert asbestos lawyer can identify.

Parents should also know that compensation for healthcare bills, loss of wages, inability to work, disabilities, a degraded quality of life and even a fatality is available if the asbestos lawyer can prove that the children’s ARDs are a result of Second-hand asbestos exposure from their parents who were primarily exposed to asbestos at their workplaces.

It is possible under Federal and State laws, that people suffering from ARDs acquired by asbestos exposure are often entitled to compensation for their injuries. Sometimes, they don’t even need a lawsuit, as they can claim from trust funds specifically created for such eventualities.

Second-hand Asbestos Exposure and Children

From the above, it is seen that children are vulnerable to asbestos exposure from a variety of sources and they suffer from the risk of ARDs from Second-hand asbestos exposure.

Health research on second-hand asbestos exposure and children

According to thisWorld Health Organization (WHO) fact sheet, about 125 million people in the world are exposed to asbestos at the workplace. The WHO also says that all forms of asbestos are carcinogenic to humans.

In this article on ‘Environmental asbestos exposure and risk of mesothelioma’, the author talks about non-occupational asbestos exposure in three ways:

One is related to occupational exposures and industrial practices, which leads to take-home exposures from asbestos workers, or para-occupational exposure.

A second is environmental exposures to communities with large asbestos-related industrial operations.

The third is the environmental exposure to asbestos containing products.

Children who lived (i) with an industrial worker, (ii) near asbestos mining and manufacturing, or (iii) where asbestos containing products were used, may be vulnerable to Second-hand asbestos exposure in such circumstances.

From the above discussion, it is clear that children can suffer from second-hand exposure to asbestos in more ways than one. Because of the latency factor, many people who were exposed as children may not know they have asbestos damage. But the dose-response of asbestos-related diseases means ongoing exposure as a child can be damaging, even if the person never was exposed to asbestos later in life.

However, if it can be proved that children suffering from ARDs do so because of Second-hand exposure, they can be compensated for their suffering. An asbestos lawyer like www.asbestosclaims.law can help parents of such children to claim compensation, usually without a lawsuit.

AsbestosClaims.Law

For Justinian C. Lane, getting compensation for asbestos victims is personal.

Justinian’s grandparents and his father all worked with asbestos in their younger years and died from asbestos-related cancers in their later years.

At the time of each of their deaths, no one in Justinian’s family knew that they were eligible to file an asbestos lawsuit and to seek compensation from the asbestos trusts.

Because no one in Justinian’s family knew their options, they never received any compensation for the death of their loved ones.

If you believe that you or your family member’s injury was related to asbestos exposure, you could be entitled to significant compensation.

This is money you could use to cover the costs of asbestos removal services, pay for medical treatment, and preemptively protect your physical well-being.

There are also asbestos trusts that offer compensation much more quickly and easily (without filing a lawsuit.)

If you’d like help with filing a claim, please get in touch by email at [email protected], or call or text us at (833) 4-ASBESTOS (427-2378) or (206) 455-9190. We’ll listen to your story and explain your options. And we never charge for anything unless you receive money in your pocket.

In addition to legal claims, veterans disability, social security and employment protection like workers compensation, FELA and The Jones Act for maritime workers, there are asbestos trusts that have been set up to compensate those harmed by asbestos without having to file a lawsuit.

There is no risk or cost to speak with one of our staff about your asbestos litigation. There are no fees unless you receive money.

If you have any additional questions or concerns related to asbestos, check out our website and YouTube page for videos, infographics and answers to your questions about asbestos, including health and safety, asbestos testing, removing asbestos from your home and building, and legal information about compensation for asbestos injuries.

Introducing the largest database of asbestos information on the planet.

W.A.R.D., which stands for the Worldwide Asbestos Research Database, helps clients to narrow down when and where they may have been exposed, as well as which products may still contain asbestos. W.A.R.D. will also help indicate compensation types and how much a person may be entitled to.