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| ! | If you believe that you were exposed to asbestos, even as a child, speak to a healthcare provider about tests and screening to help diagnose lung-scarring and screen for asbestos-related diseases. |
People who worked in these industries prior the mid-1980s have a higher risk of developing asbestos-related diseases: |
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| 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 |
Unfortunately so do their families. |
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Second-hand Asbestos Exposure and Children |
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Families of asbestos workers are at greater risk of asbestos illnesses like lung cancer.2 3 4 5 |
What is second-hand asbestos exposure? |
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For many decades, asbestos companies were not honest about the dangers of their products, and millions of industrial workers were exposed to asbestos without any protective gear, air cleaning equipment, filters or even masks to prevent asbestos diseases like lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma. |
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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. |
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Family members – including children – not only came into regular contact with them before the asbestos-contaminated clothing and dust was removed and washed. |
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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. |
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Children are perhaps more vulnerable than adults to be affected by Second-hand asbestos exposure. They also have more life ahead than their elders, and face a higher risk of asbestos-related diseases because of latency factor and dose response. |
Can Minor Occasional Second-hand Asbestos Exposure be Dangerous? (Unfortunately, yes.) |
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“The overall evidence suggests there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.”Source: National Cancer Institute (NIH)6 |
Did you know? |
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Asbestos was the first substance regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). |
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Asbestos is an industrial name for a group of minerals that are made of tiny, strong fibers that resist heat, fire, rust, chemicals, and electricity. |
Asbestos has no taste or smell, so you may not know if you’re breathing it. |
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Most asbestos diseases do not appear until 20 years after exposure, and up to 40 or 50 years later. |
Family members with second-hand exposure to a worker’s asbestos qualify for money from multiple asbestos trusts, even if they weren’t employees. |
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Can someone sue for second-hand asbestos exposure?(Yes, but they also can receive compensation without a lawsuit.) |
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There is compensation for second-hand asbestos exposure. |
In 2018, the US Supreme Court stated that second-hand asbestos health damage is real. |
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In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that since 1960, the health researchers had proven conclusively that people living with someone exposed to asbestos at work – despite never working around asbestos – were at a higher risk of asbestos related diseases and cancer like mesothelioma.
Get the facts. |
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Second-hand asbestos exposure is asbestos exposure.
Families of asbestos workers were often exposed to asbestos dust on work clothing. They are at an elevated risk of asbestos health damage.
Asbestos is very dusty. It is also microscopic, and its tiny sharp fibers stick to almost anything.
Many industrial workers brought home asbestos on their work clothing, exposing anyone washing or coming into contact with them by sharing a garage, washroom, home or vehicle.
Asbestos may look like dust, but even small amounts in the air – impossible to see – embed in the lungs and bodily tissue, and over many decades cause health damage including difficulty breathing, and even cancer.
Asbestos fibers can be microscopic, and have no taste or smell, so you may not know when you are breathing them.
In fact a toxicology study found that laundering clothing with asbestos dust can expose a person to almost half the dust as a worker that cuts an asbestos pipe with an abrasive saw. 7
People who experience second-hand asbestos exposure (‘take home’ exposure) can develop symptoms of asbestos-related disease at a higher rate than people who were never exposed.
Sharing a home or vehicle with someone wearing asbestos-tainted clothing puts you at risk of asbestos-related diseases. 8 |
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Watch our Asbestos ExposedVideo Series |
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For almost a century, the asbestos industry hid what it knew about the dangers of asbestos from workers and their families.
The asbestos industry had research as early as the 1930s that asbestos causes cancer. Rather than publish it, alert the public or study it further – they buried the results.
Health Research on Second-Hand Exposure |
Studies showing the elevated risks of asbestos diseases for families of industrial workers:Tompa E, Kalcevich C, McLeod C, Lebeau M, Song C, McLeod K, et al. The economic burden of lung cancer and mesothelioma due to occupational and para-occupational asbestos exposure. Occup Environ Med 2017; 74: 816-22. Goswami, E., Craven, V., Dahlstrom, D.L., Alexander, D. and Mowat, F., 2013. Domestic asbestos exposure: a review of epidemiologic and exposure data. International journal of environmental research and public health, 10(11), pp.5629-5670. target=”_blank”>The health impact of nonoccupational exposure to asbestos: what do we know?, Goldberg M, Luce D., Eur J Cancer Prev. 2009 Nov;18(6):489-503. doi: 10.1097/CEJ.0b013e32832f9bee. PMID: 19617842; PMCID: PMC3499908. İşten, B.H.S.T.O. and Maruziyetler, E.T., 2021. Exposures Moved from Work to Home as a Public Health Hazard. Ferrante, D., Bertolotti, M., Todesco, A., Mirabelli, D., Terracini, B. and Magnani, C., 2007. Cancer mortality and incidence of mesothelioma in a cohort of wives of asbestos workers in Casale Monferrato, Italy. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(10), pp.1401-1405. Reid, A., Heyworth, J., De Klerk, N. and Musk, A.W., 2008. The mortality of women exposed environmentally and domestically to blue asbestos at Wittenoom, Western Australia. Occupational and environmental medicine, 65(11), pp.743-749. Miller, A., 2005. Mesothelioma in household members of asbestos‐exposed workers: 32 United States cases since 1990. American journal of industrial medicine, 47(5), pp.458-462. Abelmann, A., Maskrey, J.R., Lotter, J.T., Chapman, A.M., Nembhard, M.D., Pierce, J.S., Wilmoth, J.M., Lee, R.J. and Paustenbach, D.J., 2017. Evaluation of take-home exposure to asbestos from handling asbestos-contaminated worker clothing following the abrasive sawing of cement pipe. Inhalation Toxicology, 29(12-14), pp.555-566 |
AsbestosClaims.Law has helped thousands of clients receive compensation for health damage from asbestos exposure. Billions of dollars are held in compensation trust accounts, and many people qualify for money without having to file a lawsuit. Stake your claim. |
1.- Tompa E, Kalcevich C, McLeod C, Lebeau M, Song C, McLeod K, et al. The economic burden of lung cancer and mesothelioma due to occupational and para-occupational asbestos exposure. Occup Environ Med 2017; 74: 816-22..
2.- Ferrante, D., Bertolotti, M., Todesco, A., Mirabelli, D., Terracini, B. and Magnani, C., 2007. Cancer mortality and incidence of mesothelioma in a cohort of wives of asbestos workers in Casale Monferrato, Italy. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(10), pp.1401-1405.
3.- Miller, A., 2005. Mesothelioma in household members of asbestos‐exposed workers: 32 United States cases since 1990. American journal of industrial medicine, 47(5), pp.458-462.
4.- Reid, A., Heyworth, J., De Klerk, N. and Musk, A.W., 2008. The mortality of women exposed environmentally and domestically to blue asbestos at Wittenoom, Western Australia. Occupational and environmental medicine, 65(11), pp.743-749.
5.- İşten, B.H.S.T.O. and Maruziyetler, E.T., 2021. Exposures Moved from Work to Home as a Public Health Hazard.
6.- National Cancer Institute (NIH), Asbestos Fact Sheet
7.- Abelmann, A., Maskrey, J.R., Lotter, J.T., Chapman, A.M., Nembhard, M.D., Pierce, J.S., Wilmoth, J.M., Lee, R.J. and Paustenbach, D.J., 2017. Evaluation of take-home exposure to asbestos from handling asbestos-contaminated worker clothing following the abrasive sawing of cement pipe. Inhalation Toxicology, 29(12-14), pp.555-566.
8.- Anua, S.M., Semple, S., Shakri, S.F.M., Safuan, S., Mazlan, N. and Asri, A.A.M., 2019. A review of the take-home exposure pathway of workplace hazards. International Journal of Medical Toxicology & Legal Medicine, 22(3and4), pp.13-19. s
