Workplace Exposure

Workplace exposure to asbestos, the mineral classified as a carcinogen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has been the source of thousands of cases of mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis, and other respiratory problems. Millions of Americans have incurred workplace exposure to asbestos since the 1940s, in industries and jobs such as:

 

• shipbuilding
• asbestos mining and milling
• manufacturing of asbestos textiles and other asbestos products
• construction
• building demolition
• firefighting
• automobile mechanics
• naval service

 

Government Regulations to Minimize Workplace Exposure

The hazards of workplace exposure to asbestos are well known to both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), federal agencies that regulate the use of asbestos in most American workplaces. Government regulations regarding asbestos are intended to limit workplace exposure for employees, with strict time limits, clothing and protective gear guidelines, and post-work showering rules to minimize the risk of asbestos inhalation.

 

Many Workplaces Are Potential Sources of Asbestos

Workplace exposure is possible even at locations that do not actively use asbestos. In decades spanning the 1940s through the mid-1970s, asbestos was used in the construction of millions of office buildings, factories, shipyards and other workplaces. Thousands of asbestos-containing construction products (e.g., ceiling tiles, flooring, drywall, insulation and bricks) were installed in buildings where workers have spent years or decades.

 

For example, chronic workplace exposure to asbestos has resulted in a significantly higher rate of mesothelioma among schoolteachers whose classrooms had asbestos ceiling tiles or other components that were slowly poisoning them.

 

OSHA Guidance for Removing Asbestos

Now that many asbestos-containing workplaces are decades old, renovations are being performed to remove their deteriorating asbestos. OSHA provides guidelines for the “safe” removal of asbestos, but these come too late for the thousands of workers whose asbestos-related diseases have already taken hold.

 

Once an asbestos disease such as mesothelioma has manifested itself, there is no consistent cure for it. Workplace asbestos exposure has killed thousands of Americans and many more thousands of workers around the world. Although the EPA banned new uses of asbestos in 1989, the existing uses are still allowed.

 

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