Exposición al Asbesto de Segunda Mano: un Peligro Oculto

One in Five People With El asbesto Illness Were Not Exposed at Work, They Lived With Someone Who Was

People who once worked with asbesto are at the highest risk of developing debilitating asbesto-related diseases. However, other people—people who have never worked in construction, the automotive industry, or mining—could still face danger if they lived with or spent significant time around someone who did.

Second-Hand El asbesto La exposición 

An estimated 30 million American workers were exposed to hazardous amounts of asbesto between the 1940s and late 1970s. However, not all asbesto exposures are the same: 

Exposición primaria

• Primary Exposure, or occupational exposure, which affects people who worked directly with asbesto o asbesto-contaminated products. Primary asbesto exposure was common among blue-collar workers employed in many different labor positions. 

Exposición secundaria

• Secondary Exposure, sometimes referred to as “take-home exposure” or “second-hand asbesto exposure,” which affects people who lived with asbesto workers. 

Since gender roles once precluded most women from performing manual or heavy labor, asbesto workers were usually men, while the people most likely to be exposed to second-hand asbesto were their wives and children. 

In total, some 100 million people across the United States may have been exposed to asbesto, whether at work or in their own home. 

How One Montana Town Exemplifies the Risks of Secondary El asbesto

Medical researchers, doctors, and epidemiologists have spent decades investigating the deadly toll asbesto took on the town of Libby, Montana. 

Libby, Montana y la mina de vermiculita

Durante casi 70 años, W.R. Grace Company operated a large vermiculite mine, employing hundreds of local people. Vermiculite is a mineral that is used to aerate soil while retaining nutrients. Vermiculite is useful, but is often contaminated with harmful asbesto minerals as well. 

In the case of Libby, Montana and the W.R. Grace vermiculite mine, many of that company’s mine workers experienced direct occupational exposure, working with vermiculite that contained up to 26% amphibole asbesto. Amphibole asbesto is made of tiny straight, needle-like fibers that are easily inhaled and embed in the skin, causing health problems decades later.

However, workers were not the only ones affected by asbesto. One Libby-based research study explored environmental asbesto exposure and the prevalence of asbesto-related illnesses among individuals who never worked at or with the W.R. Grace Company. 

Researchers found that, between 1979 and 2011, 694 Libby residents passed away from asbesto-related diseases. 

Sin embargo, de esas casi 700 muertes, solo unas 87 trabajaron alguna vez con WR Grace Company. 

A significant sub-section of asbesto-related deaths were women, many of whom likely lived with or around miners. 

Today, at least 1 out of every 10 Libby residents has been diagnosed with asbesto-related illnesses, including deadly cancers like mesothelioma.

You Could Get Compensation for Your El asbesto Injuries 

Si usted, o un ser querido, ha resultado lesionado por asbesto en el hogar o en el trabajo, podría tener derecho a una compensación significativa.

Según la ley de los EE. UU., todas las personas y todas las empresas tienen el deber legal de evitar dañar innecesariamente a otras personas. Esto se llama el “deber de cuidado”. Cuando alguien tiene un deber de cuidado, debe advertir a las personas sobre los posibles peligros inherentes a un lugar o producto.

Cuando alguien viola el deber de cuidado al poner en riesgo a los empleados y sus familias, podría ser considerado negligente. 

Si una empresa es negligente, podría ser responsable de los daños resultantes en un tribunal civil. 

El asbesto industry knew for decades that its products were associated with deadly diseases like mesothelioma. But they did not tell workers, families, and the American public that asbesto can kill. 

En lugar de advertir a la gente, la industria del asbesto canceló los estudios científicos y luego ocultó los resultados.

In the past several decades, people have filed civil lawsuits against the asbesto company, winning hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation—money that can use to pay off their medical bills, replace lost income, or cover the costs of a loved one’s funeral. 

In fact, the asbesto industry has hedged its losses by setting up fondos fiduciarios para sus víctimas. 

People who had to inhale asbesto fibers because a loved one strove to make an honest living are victims, too, and entitled to relief for their damages and losses.