Blood Serum Testing

BREAKING: New Blood Serum Testing Study Looks Promising for Earlier Diagnosis and Improved Prognosis in Mesothelioma Patients

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Mesothelioma patients are frequently introduced to new concepts and technologies that may seem complex or difficult to understand. Most people—and therefore, most mesothelioma patients—do not have a background in clinical oncology, which means that it can be difficult to make heads or tails of all of this new, often highly technical information.

However, it’s essential to stay as up to date as possible. New discoveries and applications for those discoveries are being made all the time.  This means that, for example, a testing method that may have been less important or may not have even been around a few years ago could be an essential diagnostic tool for mesothelioma patients today, or in the very near future.

One of the most recent examples of this type of evolving technology is a new blood-based testing method to diagnose mesothelioma—often far earlier than mesothelioma has traditionally been diagnosed.

The Problem

A recent study on blood serum testing for mesothelioma was conducted by a Turkish research team. The team examined the use of blood serum testing in tackling one of the biggest issues with mesothelioma diagnosis and prognosis: timing.

As those familiar with mesothelioma may already know, one of the biggest barriers to effective treatment and positive prognosis for mesothelioma patients is mesothelioma’s very long latency period.

Specifically, mesothelioma is usually only diagnosed once symptoms start to appear, which is often at least 20 years and sometimes 30 years—or more—after exposure to inhaled asbestos. This is why mesothelioma is usually diagnosed later in life, with an average diagnosis age of 74.

In patients with asbestos exposure history, presenting with symptoms like shortness of breath, difficulty swallowing, dry cough, muscle soreness/weakness, unexplained weight loss, and fatigue will usually signal a doctor to start the testing process for a variety of conditions including mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma testing usually involves an array of imaging of the chest/abdomen and lungs (from basic chest x-rays to CT scans, PET scans, and MRIs) after which clinicians usually move on to more invasive tissue/fluid procurement and imaging procedures.

These include thoracentesis (removing and examining fluid from the pleural space around the lungs by puncturing the chest wall with a needle) and thoracoscopy (inserting a thorascope, a thin tube with a camera on the end, into the chest cavity via a small incision near the lower part of the shoulder blade). Once a sufficient sample of tissue or fluid is obtained, it is examined under a microscope; if the abnormal cells present indicate mesothelioma, diagnosis is usually confirmed.

However, by this point, the patient’s mesothelioma is usually quite advanced, and often has already metastasized and spread to the lymph nodes and other parts of the body. This makes it much more difficult to treat mesothelioma effectively: by the time they are diagnosed, decades after their asbestos exposure, most pleural mesothelioma patients cannot pursue multimodal treatment (i.e., surgery in addition to chemo and potentially also radiation), since their cancer has already advanced to a stage where aggressive treatment is no longer effective or even possible.

This leaves the vast majority of pleural mesothelioma patients with very limited treatment options—usually just standard chemotherapy—and a rather narrow prognosis window. This is one of the main reasons, if not the main reason, why the median survival rate of mesothelioma is only around 12 months. The issue of diagnostic timing poses a serious challenge to those who are working to improve the prognosis of mesothelioma patients.

The Solution

That’s where blood serum testing comes into play. The new study, which was conducted using a large sample group of patients in standard hospitals, medical centers, and university-affiliated research and teaching hospitals in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey, revealed exciting findings about the promise of blood serum testing in providing earlier diagnosis of mesothelioma in patients, thereby broadening their treatment options and improving their prognoses.

Dr. Feride Severcan of Altinbas University, one of the co-authors of the study, noted that “timing is the worst aspect” of mesothelioma, and that “an early diagnosis from easily collected blood serum is a very valuable approach”, which may “increase the chance of successful treatment and survival”. Dr. Severcan further explained that blood serum testing has other benefits, including being more accurate, quicker, less expensive, and less invasive than standard mesothelioma testing. He believes that blood serum testing will help facilitate “early and accurate” mesothelioma diagnoses, an essential piece of the puzzle when it comes to “decreasing the morbidity rate” and improving the odds for mesothelioma patients.

How does it work?

The newly developed blood serum testing method involves the use of a hyper-specialized tool called ATR-FTIR (short for “attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy”). While this sounds like quite a mouthful, the tool essentially enables clinicians and scientists to analyze small amounts of blood serum for specific biomarkers—“molecular fingerprints” in the form of “structural and compositional changes” in the components of the blood serum that serve as “early signs” of mesothelioma— far earlier than any other diagnostic tool commonly utilized to identify mesothelioma.

“Based on FTIR measurements, the molecular fingerprints of serum samples can be obtained and the structural and compositional changes in the components of that fluid can serve as biomarkers for early signs of the disease,” Severcan said.

The study utilized samples from patients with three different lung diseases—malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer, and non-malignant pleural effusions—as well as a control group of samples from healthy people. Researchers sought to differentiate between the samples and identify which is which using only the blood serum biomarkers as viewed through ATR-FTIR.

The results were very promising, both for the study’s authors and for mesothelioma patients worldwide: Dr. Severcan and his colleagues were able to reliably identify malignant mesothelioma from blood serum alone with an accuracy rate of 87.5%.

The process of ATR-FTIR-assisted blood serum testing for mesothelioma is still being fine-tuned by the research team behind this study, as well as by others around the world. The ultimate goal, which is excitingly close to becoming realized, is to identify earlier-stage mesothelioma quicker and more accurately, improving prognoses for mesothelioma patients and enabling them to access a broader range of more aggressive and effective treatments.

The study, titled “Rapid diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma and its discrimination from lung cancer and benign exudative effusions using blood serum”, will be published in October 2022 in the journal Biochimica et Biophysica Acta—Molecular Basis of Disease. It is currently available online via Science Direct.

Rising Mesothelioma Deaths Among Women

New Study Sheds Light on Rising Mesothelioma Deaths Among Women

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When most people think of a mesothelioma patient, they usually picture an older man. This appears to be supported by the statistics: around 2/3 of mesothelioma patients are 65 or older, and over 75% of mesothelioma patients are male.

A recent study, however, revealed an alarming trend: an increasing number of women are dying from mesothelioma every year.

In the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published on May 13th, 2022, the CDC reported that the number of women dying annually from mesothelioma has risen steadily by over the past 20 years, increasing by over 25% from 1999 to 2020. During that time, 12,227 women died from mesothelioma.

The rate of mesothelioma deaths has continued to rise among women between 1999 and 2020, despite increased regulations limiting unsafe exposure to asbestos and a worldwide drop in asbestos use during those 21 years, as well as increased quality of care and improved medical technology.

The trend seems especially concerning when compared with the rates of mesothelioma deaths among men during the same 21-year period, which appear to have stayed roughly the same, or even dropped slightly. In general, more men than women are diagnosed with mesothelioma (for reasons we will explore below), and there have therefore been more mesothelioma deaths among men than among women from 1999-2020. However, the CDC study reported that 489 women died from mesothelioma in 1999, and 614 women died from mesothelioma in 2020. The number of male mesothelioma deaths, meanwhile, has gone from 1,990 deaths in 1999 to 1,981 deaths in 2020.

So, why are more women dying of mesothelioma over time?

The answer, as explained in part the CDC study, can be found by breaking down a few key facts about mesothelioma, and about why mesothelioma primarily effects men over 65 to begin with.

Firstly, it’s important to understand that the primary risk factor for mesothelioma is prolonged exposure to disturbed asbestos fibers.

Asbestos is a type of mineral found in soil and rocks in many parts of the world, that was used for many years in shipyard, construction, industrial, and military fields, among others, due to its heat-resistance and fire suppressant qualities. Asbestos naturally forms in small bundles of tiny, microscopic fibers. When asbestos is disturbed, it shakes those fibers loose into the air.

We now know that exposure to the disturbed asbestos fibers can lead to cancer and other conditions in several parts of the body. If inhaled, the asbestos fibers can get into the lungs, and may travel through the lungs to the pleura, a thin membrane covering the lungs. Asbestos fibers are harmful to pleural cells, and pleural injury caused by asbestos can lead to pleural mesothelioma over time. Asbestos can also cause other forms of lung cancer, as well as lung scarring (asbestosis).

While many people are exposed to small amounts of naturally occurring asbestos, there are far fewer people who have been exposed to asbestos in a high enough concentration for a long enough time for mesothelioma to form. The mean source of asbestos exposure for people with mesothelioma generally is the workplace, usually workplaces in the fields mentioned above (i.e., shipyards construction, industrial, manufacturing, or military) that widely utilized asbestos before restrictions were put in place in the late 1970s. At the time, workers in those fields were almost exclusively men, which explains the much higher instance of mesothelioma among men.

Long Latency Period: Another thing to consider is mesothelioma’s very long latency period, or the period of time between asbestos exposure and the presentation of symptoms or malignancy. The CDC report estimated that there’s a median latency period of approximately 32 years between occupational exposure to asbestos and death from ensuing mesothelioma.

This is why the vast majority of all mesothelioma patients, both male and female, tend to be older: of the total women who died from mesothelioma in the studied period, over 90% were age 55 or older. Unfortunately, symptoms of mesothelioma often do not present until the cancer is fairly far advanced. By the time most people with mesothelioma get diagnosed, it is too late for the most effective treatments, and prognosis/rate of survival is lower accordingly. This is another reason why mesothelioma deaths among women continue to rise, despite exposure to asbestos being greatly

Unconventional Forms of Exposure: This leads to the next question: how did women get mesothelioma if they didn’t work in the fields mentioned above?

As shown in the CDC study, women who developed mesothelioma were also exposed to asbestos, but usually not by working directly in the fields commonly associated with asbestos exposure. Instead, the women in the study were exposed to asbestos in three major ways:

  • Secondary Exposure from Male Household Members: The study found that one of the most common occupations among women who died from mesothelioma was “housewife.” In 2020, the last year researched by the study, 22.8% of mesothelioma deaths occurred among women who listed housewife as their occupation.

Upwards of 60 percent of the women who died from mesothelioma between 1999 and 2020, including most housewives who died from mesothelioma, were likely the victims of secondary exposure to asbestos, making it the most common means of asbestos exposure among female mesothelioma patients.

Secondary exposure occurs when workers who were directly exposed to asbestos unintentionally and unknowingly bring asbestos fibers back home with them, in large enough quantities and over a long enough time that other people in their households eventually develop mesothelioma. Usually, these women were their mothers, their wives, and sometimes their children, especially if they were responsible for cleaning and maintaining work clothes.

Since asbestos fibers are jagged, they easily attach to clothing and shoes, as well as skin and hair. Dusting off or shaking out garments with asbestos on them (or brushing off asbestos-adhered hair or skin) only disperses the fibers into the air, which makes them more likely to be inhaled or swallowed. Women may also be exposed to mesothelioma during repairs or renovations to their homes if those homes were built—as many were—with asbestos insulation.

  • Exposure in a Workplace Not Conventionally Associated with Asbestos: Some of the women who died of mesothelioma were exposed to asbestos in their workplaces, which were not traditionally associated with asbestos exposure and resultant mesothelioma risk. Dr. Jaceck M. Mazurek, one of the lead authors of the CDC study, explained that in addition to secondary exposure among homemakers, “a large proportion [of mesothelioma in women] was reported among women whose occupations were not historically and traditionally associated with asbestos exposure. Women in some of these fields, such as healthcare, social work, and education, were often exposed to asbestos during renovations on older buildings where their jobs were located, or via the resuspension of settled asbestos into the air via dusting, sweeping, or cleaning in those buildings. Other women were exposed by working in factories where asbestos was used in the production or manufacturing of the product being made.
  • Environmental Exposure: A smaller but still significant portion of women who died from mesothelioma were exposed to high concentrations of asbestos in their environments, usually because they lived close to an asbestos mine or an industrial facility where asbestos was being processed or manufactured. This sort of exposure to asbestos often occurs from childhood onward and can lead to mesothelioma as well as other cancers (especially endometrial cancer).

Because the means by which women were exposed to asbestos were not understood until relatively recently, many women with mesothelioma have been misdiagnosed or have not been treated in a timely fashion. This likely contributed to the rising rates of death among women with mesothelioma, despite the fact that if mesothelioma is caught earlier in women, they tend to have a higher rate of survival than men.

As Dr. Mazurek explained, “the increasing number of malignant mesothelioma deaths among women most likely represent [asbestos] exposure many years ago”, in combination with a lack of understanding about mesothelioma risk in women.

As Dr. Mazurek and his co-authors point out in the study, there are several things we can learn from this data. In particular:

  • The importance of continued regulations preventing asbestos exposure
  • The need for increased awareness about mesothelioma diagnoses in women
  • The need for proactive mesothelioma screening for women who may be at risk

Call Us Today For A Free Consultation

Satterley & Kelley mesothelioma attorneys can answer your questions, advise you of your rights. Call our Louisville office at 502-589-5600 or toll-free at 855-385-9532. You can also fill out our contact form to schedule a free initial consultation.

Workplaces Causing Cancer

Does Your Workplace Cause Cancer? Asbestos Exposure in Kentucky Is Still Causing Mesothelioma

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No one should have to work in a hazardous environment just to get a paycheck. Unfortunately, hard-working Kentuckians continue to be exposed to asbestos in workplaces across the state.

You may think that it’s only power plant employees or people in similarly high-risk environments who are at risk — but that’s simply not true. In reality, you can be exposed to asbestos that causes mesothelioma in almost any industry when employers engage in negligent practices.

In a recent case, a Kentucky man and his wife sued brake remanufacturer, Brake Supply Company, Inc., and three other brake lining manufacturers after developing mesothelioma caused by asbestos-containing brakes they manufactured and sold. The exposure occurred more than 30 years prior to the Plaintiff’s diagnosis.

This case illustrates why asbestos exposure continues to be such a pervasive problem in Kentucky, and throughout the United States — particularly, how multiple parties may be involved in negligent practices that lead to workers being exposed to asbestos. This both increases the risk of asbestos exposure for workers and complicates the process of holding the answerable parties accountable.

However, that doesn’t mean workers who develop mesothelioma have no recourse. With a top Kentucky mesothelioma lawyer on your side, it’s possible to identify the responsible party and hold them accountable.

What Is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a group of naturally occurring minerals that form in bundles of very thin, microscopic fibers. Asbestos is heat and fire resistant, and it was used in many manufactured products, most notably the following:

  • Building insulation
  • Roofing shingles
  • Ceiling and floor tiles
  • Plastic products
  • Cement products such as wallboards
  • Automotive parts, including brake linings, pads and clutches
  • Heat-resistant fabrics
  • Packing and gaskets
  • Cigarette filters

Unfortunately, after widespread use over many decades, it was discovered that asbestos is highly carcinogenic—specifically when asbestos fibers are inhaled or swallowed.

When an asbestos-containing product is disturbed—which can happen during the mining and processing of the asbestos itself, as well as any manufacturing that employs asbestos, and construction, renovation, or cleaning of asbestos-containing structures—asbestos fibers are released into the air.

Exposure to disturbed, airborne asbestos fibers can lead to cancer and other conditions in several parts of the body.

If inhaled, the asbestos fibers enter the lungs, and often travel through the lungs and the airway passages to the pleura, a thin membrane covering the lungs. Asbestos fibers are harmful to pleural cells, and pleural injury caused by asbestos can lead to pleural mesothelioma over time. Asbestos can also cause other forms of lung cancer, as well as lung scarring (asbestosis). Asbestos that is swallowed, meanwhile—whether outright, or because it is initially inhaled and then coughed up and swallowed—can lodge in the peritoneum, the layer of tissue lining the abdomen. Asbestos is similarly harmful to peritoneal cells as it is to pleural cells, and exposure over time can lead to peritoneal mesothelioma. A third, less common type of mesothelioma that is sometimes caused by asbestos exposure (among other potential causes) is pericardial mesothelioma, which begins in the membranes surrounding the heart (the pericardium).

Mesothelioma tends to have a very long latency period, or the time that it takes between exposure to carcinogen (in this case, asbestos) and the development of symptoms. Because of this, by the time mesothelioma is diagnosed, it is often fairly advanced. This contributes to the prognosis most mesothelioma patients face: the five-year survival rate is just 10 percent, and life expectancy is typically between four and 18 months after diagnosis.

Asbestos in Kentucky

From 1999 to 2017, there were more than 3,100 asbestos-related deaths in Kentucky, despite the fact that there are no known naturally occurring asbestos deposits in the state. That means if you were exposed to asbestos in Kentucky, it likely came from exposure to asbestos—whether in the workplace, in a product, or second-hand (i.e., exposure to asbestos through fibers brought into the home on the clothes, hair, and skin of exposed workers).  

Most older homes contain asbestos somewhere. Whereas prospective homebuyers can commission asbestos inspection and owners can hire abatement professionals, workers and students aren’t so lucky. In addition to homes, asbestos is a common presence in a vast array of workplaces, schools, and other public buildings. When construction occurs on these buildings, asbestos fibers are often disturbed and sent into the air, where those working in the buildings and seeking services in the buildings (including students) are sometimes exposed to asbestos.

Who Develops Mesothelioma?

Everyone is exposed to asbestos at some point in their life in small amounts, as it is present in the air, water, and soil. However, some people are more likely to encounter asbestos than others, meaning their risk of developing mesothelioma is higher.

Many factors affect whether asbestos exposure leads to mesothelioma, including dose, duration, type of asbestos, and source of exposure. People who are exposed to asbestos for a prolonged period of time while they are young, as is the case in many workplaces where asbestos exposure occurs, are more likely to develop mesothelioma.

In addition, the lifestyle and genetic makeup of each individual contributes to risk of mesothelioma. Scientists are still researching the exact individual risk factors for mesothelioma beyond exposure, but they appear to include exposure to other carcinogens (including zeolites, radiation), exposure to other diseases (such as Simian Virus 40, or SV40), individual behaviors (such as smoking), and in rare cases, gene mutations (i.e., a mutation in the BAP1 gene).

High-Risk Occupations

The most significant risk factor for mesothelioma is prolonged exposure to asbestos, which most often occurs in the workplace. Although people in many occupations may encounter asbestos, the following workers are at an especially increased risk for developing mesothelioma:

  • Demolition workers
  • Construction workers
  • Lathers (construction specialists who make frameworks)
  • Miners
  • Steel mill workers
  • Paper mill workers
  • Bricklayers and brick kiln workers
  • Boilermakers or boiler engineers/repairmen
  • Firefighters
  • Automotive workers and mechanics
  • Aircraft mechanics
  • Manufacturers of asbestos products
  • Drywall removers
  • Power plant workers
  • Electricians
  • Plumbers and pipe fitters
  • Plasterers
  • Foundry workers
  • Merchant marines
  • Navy Yard workers
  • Millwrights (repairmen for industrial machinery)

Women and Mesothelioma

Since mesothelioma exposure primarily occurs as an occupational hazard in industries that have traditionally been male-dominated, most mesothelioma patients are men.

However, women can also get mesothelioma, and a recent study by the CDC actually found that rates of mesothelioma deaths among women are actually rising at a faster rate than mesothelioma deaths among men.

Only a very small number of women with mesothelioma are exposed to asbestos “traditionally” (i.e., while working in one of several mostly male industries). Instead, asbestos exposure in women tends to come from three main sources:

  • Exposure in the Home: Sometimes, workers who were directly exposed to asbestos unknowingly bring asbestos fibers back home with them, putting other people in their households at risk of developing mesothelioma—especially if they handle or are responsible for cleaning the asbestos carrier’s work clothes. This is referred to as secondary exposure to asbestos, which is carcinogenic in the same way that secondhand smoking is carcinogenic.

In addition, women are sometimes exposed to asbestos through home renovations. Up until asbestos use in home construction was largely banned in the late 70’s, many homes were built using asbestos, largely employed as insulation and on tiling and siding. Repairs or renovations to homes can disturb the asbestos fibers that were formerly contained within the house and sent them into the air to be inhaled or ingested over time.

  • Exposure at Work: Beyond the conventional industrial, construction, shipping, and military jobs that work more directly with asbestos, there are many other fields where a person may be exposed to asbestos at work.

Some women develop mesothelioma from exposure in these workplaces, often while performing their jobs in fields such as healthcare, social work, and education. Asbestos exposure is often caused by renovations on the older buildings where those jobs are located. Women may also be exposed to asbestos while working in factories where asbestos is used in production or manufacturing.

  • Environmental Exposure: A smaller number of women may be exposed to asbestos to high concentrations in their environments, usually because they live close to an industrial facility where asbestos is processed or manufactured or used in processing or manufacturing. This type of exposure to asbestos can lead to mesothelioma as well as other cancers (especially endometrial cancer).

High-Risk Areas

Mesothelioma is more prevalent in certain counties in Kentucky than others. The populations of Anderson, Boyd, Campbell, Fayette, Henderson, Jefferson, Kenton, McCracken, Marshall, and Warren counties are at significantly higher risk.

Your Legal Rights After a Mesothelioma Diagnosis

As mentioned above, one of the greatest tragedies of mesothelioma is that symptoms take a long time, sometimes decades, to appear. That means that by the time mesothelioma patients are diagnosed with mesothelioma, holding the responsible party accountable and getting the compensation they deserve may be difficult. However, it’s much more doable with the right legal representation.

In partnership with an experienced, knowledgeable mesothelioma attorney, the first move will be finding the responsible party — typically the company — that exposed the mesothelioma patient to asbestos. After a thorough investigation, your lawyer will identify the source of your exposure and name the defendant. They will try to gather and present evidence that shows that the defendant was aware of the asbestos and failed to warn the mesothelioma patient about the dangers.

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, starting a lawsuit is probably the last thing you want to deal with. However, there are many good and necessary reasons to do so, including the following:

  • You need to pay for medical care. Cancer treatment can be wildly expensive and could leave you and your financially devastated. This is especially true if you are uninsured, but is also true if you have insurance coverage, as there are often significant gaps in coverage that can leave mesothelioma patients with unmanageable bills.
  • You don’t want the company to hurt anyone else. Too often, companies will continue on with negligent practices if it saves them money, even after becoming aware that they are exposing their employees and others to a highly carcinogenic substance. By filing a lawsuit, you could be preventing the company from endangering future employees.
  • You’ve lost or will lose wages. If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, there’s a good chance that you won’t be able to work as the cancer progresses. The same is true for your family members, who may have to leave their jobs temporarily or even permanently in order to help care for you. The responsible party should compensate you accordingly.
  • You’ve experienced tremendous pain and suffering. Whether you’ve lost a family member to mesothelioma, or you are the one personally suffering, mesothelioma causes a great deal of pain. Your lawyer should take this into account when calculating your settlement.

Although perhaps the most common, these are far from the only reasons to pursue a mesothelioma lawsuit. The fact of the matter is that if a company caused your cancer, it should be held liable for all of your losses, tangible and intangible.

Satterley & Kelley: Top Kentucky Mesothelioma Lawyers

If you’re like most Kentuckians, when you go to work, you work hard; you give your all to your employer every single day. So when you company’s knowingly expose you to asbestos that results in you developing cancer, it’s a slap in the face.

As long as companies continue to expose workers to asbestos, the experienced mesothelioma lawyers at Satterley & Kelley will be there to fight for them. We’ll use all of our resources to investigate your situation, compile evidence, and present a compelling case for your compensation.

Call Us Today

If you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, there is a time limit to file a case. Don’t wait! Contact us today for a free consultation or give us a call at 502-589-5600.

Asbestos

Phenolic Molding Compounds, Asbestos, and Mesothelioma (Podcast)

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In this podcast, Paul Kelley from Satterley & Kelley Law Firm talks about the link between phenolic molding compound and asbestos. He explains that phenolic molding compounds were  popular in many products in the past, and they contain asbestos. If you were involved in the production or use of these products, you have a heightened risk of mesothelioma.

John Maher: Hi, I’m John Maher. I’m here today with Paul Kelley. Paul is a partner with the Kentucky personal injury law firm, Satterley & Kelley, which has over 30 years of collective experience in handling cases involving mesothelioma and asbestos exposure. Today, we’re talking about phenolic molding compounds, asbestos and mesothelioma. Welcome ,Paul.

Paul Kelley: Hi John, how are you doing today?

John: Good, thanks. Paul, what are phenolic molding compounds?

What Are Phenolic Molding Compounds?

Paul: Phenolic molding compounds are a substance that historically has been used to make molded plastic products. There’s several products historically that have contained or been made from molding compounds. The things that people probably are most commonly aware of are things like circuit breakers, panel boxes, a variety of electrical products that were used in powerhouses and things of that nature.

Is BakeLite a Phenolic Molding Compound?

John: And I’ve heard of an older, earlier type of plastic called a Bakelite, is that a product that’s made from a phenolic molding compound?

Paul: It is. Bakelite, it’s like the Kleenex. Kleenex is a brand name, but everybody says, for tissue, get me Kleenex. Bakelite is a product that was associated with the company called Union Carbide. It was officially the Bakelite company, but there are other companies that have made similar products, phenolic molding compounds, and then they molded similar plastic products like Bakelite was made from.

John: And that was in all kinds of things like even household appliances and things like that, right?

Paul: Absolutely.

Which Products Have Phenolic Molding Compounds?

John: Why don’t you talk a little bit more about that? What types of products have historically used some phenolic molding compounds?

Paul: Oh, gosh. Anywhere from… cars sometimes had phenolic molding compounds and some of the plastic components. We have seen household appliances, refrigerators and ovens and the insides of ovens, stoves, a lot of products like that. And the military used a lot of phenolics for a lot of military grade equipment from their vehicles to weapons. It’s very high heat resistant. And so asbestos contains phenolic molding compounds, that’s why it was such a desirable product because asbestos has a very high heat resistance. And so anything that utilizes high heat phenolic molding compounds or the asbestos contained in them. Phenolic molding compounds protected things from overheating and protected people from being burnt in a variety of different ways. Unfortunately, it contained asbestos, which was one of the worst substances known in occupational history.

Can You Get Mesothelioma From Phenolic Molding Compounds?

John: Phenolic molding compounds contain asbestos, so can you get mesothelioma from exposure to them?

Paul: Yeah. The good news, John, is I don’t think that phenolic molding compounds contain asbestos in 2022 and they probably haven’t for 25, 30 years, but historically from the 1960s, 70s, and even into the mid 80s, phenolic molding compounds contained asbestos. And there’s really a couple different ways that people could get mesothelioma from those products. One would be the people that use the raw molding compound, and another is the people who worked with the finished products. And we can talk about that a little bit this afternoon.

Who Was Exposed to Phenolic Molding Compounds?

John: Tell me who was typically exposed to phenolic molding compounds.

Paul: Our greatest experience is people that worked in plastic manufacturing plants. There was a plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky called Cutler Hammer, later Eaton, and it was a plant that made electrical products, circuit breakers, panel boxes, switchgear, arc sheets, all kinds of different things, and those products in the 60s through the 80s were made with phenolic molding compounds. These compounds are basically a powder. They’ve been described in numerous different ways by the people that we’ve represented and their coworkers over the years.

Some have described it as like an oats type material. It’s shaped that way. And it’s very easy to create dust from the use of this product. Typically what happened in a plant like Cutler Hammer is they took the material from 55 gallon drums or 50 pound bags, and they poured it into hoppers, big 6, 7, 8, 10 feet hoppers. And they would just pour it in there. The dust would proliferate.

And so all the people who were responsible for making the finished product like the circuit breakers or panel boxes, they’re getting exposed to the raw material. And there are some other plants in Kentucky and nearby Kentucky that have used these materials. General Electric here in Louisville had a molding operation, Square D in Lexington, Kentucky also had a molding operation and used phenolic molding compounds, a company called Plastics Molding Corporation just on the other side of the river in Cincinnati also utilized phenolic molding compounds to make products.

They made products for companies like Cutler Hammer, the things that Cutler Hammer didn’t make at home they made at PMC. Ford Motor Company had the components in a car like transmission components that were made from asbestos containing phenolic materials over a period of time. The people that are exposed to the raw materials and then, to be frank, those people suffered an unbelievable exposure. If they contain asbestos and they’re pouring it day in and day out, they have to clean it up. Most of these places that we’ve seen, they didn’t have one molding machine, they had dozens of them. And so there’s dozens of people that are pouring these materials into the molding machines over the course of a 7, 8, 9 hour shift.

Phenolic Molding Compound Exposure in Factories

John: And even if you’re not the one pouring it, you’re just maybe in the room working the machines or something like that or doing other jobs and you’re just in a big warehouse type of building. And it’s probably just all getting up into the air, right?

Paul: Absolutely. It takes so many different expertises to make these products. You had the people, the setup man, you had the operators, people that were responsible for cleaning and people that were responsible for just bringing the materials into the molding area. And so there were a number of different types of crafts and people that were exposed. And everything that I’ve heard from every person that we’ve ever represented that worked in a plant like that, there was no way to avoid the dust, and the dust proliferated throughout the facilities in which they worked.

Can You Get Asbestos Exposure From a Final Product Made With Phenolic Molding Compound?

John: Could somebody get an asbestos exposure from exposure to a final product that’s created from a phenolic molding compound?

Paul: They can. Absolutely, they can. Lots of times there’s reasons to cut, drill, or saw these types of products. For example, I’ve heard of underground conduit that was made of phenolic molding compounds, and so this conduit would carry wires and cables that ran underground, so wires and cables for your telephone service or for your electricity, or I’ve even heard it sometimes in railroad settings where they needed it to run the signal boxes.

And so they have all this wiring cable that runs through a conduit, and when they have to put a new wiring cable in, they have to dig a trench, get to the conduit, saw the conduit, cut it, open it up, install their new cable, and then either replace the conduit or put it back together. That’s one example. And it might not be the same kind of exposure to what people got in the facilities where they molded the product, but there have been studies that have been shown that sawing, cutting, drilling, grinding that kind of material will produce a significant amount of dust that ultimately could cause someone to develop mesothelioma.

Are There Modern Phenolic Molding Compound Products That Contain Asbestos?

John: And are there any products today that still use phenolic molding compounds that contain asbestos?

Paul: There probably are not. If there is, it would be something that a foreign company imports in. Fortunately we’re not getting reports right now that anyone’s still being exposed to these kinds of products. However, it is important to note that other countries don’t have the same standards the United States does and so to the extent that foreign manufacturers are sending things through the United States it’s very important for people who are electricians, for people who work for railroads, work for telephone companies… In 2022, they have material safety data sheets for all the things that are typically used in the workplace.

And my recommendation to anyone would be to make sure that before you drill into some plastic piece, before you cut into some underground pipe, before you cut into a panel box or something of that nature that it would be worthwhile to take a look at the material safety data sheet to see if that product in fact does contain asbestos, because it’s very possible that it’s out there, but hopefully that’s not the case.

Get Help From the Law Firm of Satterley & Kelley

John: All right. Well, that’s great information, Paul. Thanks again for speaking with me today.

Paul: Thanks, John.

John: And for more information about mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, visit the Law Firm of Satterley & Kelley at satterleylaw.co or call 855-385-9532.

P Lorillard Tobacco Company

Mesothelioma Cases at P. Lorillard Tobacco Company (Podcast)

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In this podcast, Paul  Kelley explains how employees of the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company may have been exposed to asbestos that causes mesothelioma. He explains what they and their family members can do to get compensation for this deadly disease. He also talks about how Kent cigarette smokers were affected.

John Maher: Hi, I’m John Maher, and I’m here today with Paul Kelley. Paul is a partner with the Kentucky personal injury law firm, Satterley & Kelley, which has over 30 years of collective experience in handling cases involving mesothelioma and asbestos exposure. Today, we’re talking about mesothelioma cases at P. Lorillard Tobacco Company. Welcome, Paul.

Paul Kelley: Hi, John. How are you doing today?

What Is the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company?

John: Good, thanks. So, Paul, what is the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company, and where are they located?

Paul: Well, the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company was a cigarette manufacturer. It’s still in business today. I believe it’s been bought out by a couple of different companies, but the timeframe that I want to talk about is the early to mid 1950s here in Louisville, Kentucky.

And once upon a time, Lorillard was a cigarette manufacturing plant in Kentucky where it manufactured Kent cigarettes and Old Gold cigarettes.

Lorillard had manufacturing plants in places other than Louisville, certainly North Carolina and some other states. But the location that I’m going to discuss today was right here in the heart of downtown Louisville, Kentucky.

How Was the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company Linked to Asbestos and Mesothelioma?

John: And how is Lorillard Tobacco Company related to asbestos and mesothelioma cancer cases?

Paul: Well, it’s very interesting. In the early 1950s, Lorillard collaborated with another company to manufacture a filter called the Micronite filter that was going to be used as the filter for Kent cigarettes.

And as it turns out, that filter contained asbestos. So what would happen is the supplier of the filter material sent it to Kentucky in this instance, and Lorillard took that filter material and cut it and manufactured it, and affixed it to the Kent cigarette.

We have represented a lot of different people who have worked at the Lorillard plant here in Louisville, and we’ve also represented a lot of people who smoked the Kent cigarettes. And in a couple of circumstances, we’ve represented people whose father or mother worked at the Lorillard plant, and they ended up contracting mesothelioma.

It was a pretty small period of time, but an amazingly large number of people contracted this disease that worked at that plant.

Which Cigarettes Used the Filter With Asbestos?

John: You mentioned before that, Lorillard manufactured cigarettes under a bunch of different brand names. Was it only the Kent cigarettes that had this particular type of filter?

Paul: It was only the Kent cigarette, and it was 1952 to 1956 that they manufactured it. I believe that they took it off the market officially in 1957. But it was only the Kent cigarette, and it was advertised all over the place as the safe cigarette, because the Micronite filter was supposed to protect people from the carcinogens ordinarily contained in cigarettes. Unfortunately, the material that was supposed to protect people from carcinogens was also a carcinogen.

How Were P. Lorillard Tobacco Company Employees  Exposed to Asbestos?

John: And so you mentioned that both smokers of these cigarettes and workers at the Lorillard Tobacco Company were potentially exposed. How were the employees at Lorillard Tobacco Company exposed to asbestos?

Paul: A lot of different ways. So there was something called the plug room, and the plug room is where they actually made the filter. So again, this filter material, it came in on rolls, and they would take it into the plug room, and there were numerous different procedures involved. But essentially, they’re cutting these materials, just hundreds, thousands at a time.

They’re cutting it and they’re cutting it in small enough sizes that ultimately, would be small enough to affix to a cigarette. So the people in the plug room who operated the plug machines, who brought the material into the plug room, who carried the materials out of the plug room, were all exposed to massive levels of asbestos as a result of that process.

Then people who actually made the cigarettes. So the filter material would go into another department and it would be affixed to the cigarettes. And they had cutting machines. So imagine a big cigarette wrapper. And two cigarettes really came from one wrapper, and they were cut down the middle where the filter was, and then you have two cigarettes. And one cigarette would go one way on a machine and another one would go the other way.

So people who operated those machines, people who were there for the process… This was an automated process. Thousands per hour of these cigarettes were cut right at the filter, creating all kinds of dust for people to be exposed to.

We’ve also represented a number of other people that were tray handlers. So they retrieved the finished cigarettes. A lot of those cigarettes were busted and broken and they had exposures through that process.

And then there were some people that their job was just to deal with the broken cigarettes. So they had to collect them. They had to rip them open, empty the tobacco out because they couldn’t waste that tobacco. That would be a sin in the tobacco industry.

So they saved the tobacco. They discarded the filters. Somebody had to do that work, and this is something that happened in that plant, day in day out, for over four years.

Can Lorillard Tobacco Company Employees Sue for Asbestos Exposure?

John: Okay. So if you were an employee at the Lorillard Tobacco Company during this period, and you have lung cancer, asbestosis or mesothelioma, can you sue Lorillard for your exposure to asbestos?

Paul: Yes and no. Typically speaking, you couldn’t sue Lorillard as your direct employer. However, many people smoked cigarettes that worked there, and so to the extent that an employee went to the grocery store or wherever you went in the 1950s to buy cigarettes and they smoked Kent cigarettes, they could file a suit against Lorillard for exposure from smoking the cigarettes.

They cannot sue Lorillard for their exposure that occurred during work because of Kentucky worker’s compensation laws.

What Is the Statute of Limitations to File a Lawsuit Against Lorillard Tobacco Company?

John: Okay. And is there a statute of limitations on filing a case against Lorillard Tobacco?

Paul: There would be a statute of limitations for filing suit against Lorillard. It’s typically one year from the date of diagnosis.

There are some exceptions to that rule. We have something called the discovery rule in Kentucky. People have one year from the date they know or should know that they’re injured. So the diagnosis of mesothelioma would be a good indication they’ve been injured. And then one year from the date, they know, or should know what the cause of that injury was.

Sometimes that’s a lot harder because a lot of people don’t know where they’re exposed. And if somebody worked at the Lorillard plant in the 1950s, they may not have had any idea that they were working with an asbestos product.

And one other issue before I forget, John, is that there was the supplier that I talked to you about. The supplier can be sued. They don’t get the same protections that Lorillard did. So the company that supplied the asbestos filter material that Lorillard employees ultimately used to make this filter, those companies, those suppliers are still viable defendants and can be held accountable for causing people this terrible disease.

John: So you have a different avenue that you can go after in terms of getting recovery for damages, even though, like you said, because of Kentucky law, you can’t directly sue your employer?

Paul: That’s correct.

Can Kent Cigarette Smokers Sue Lorillard Tobacco Company for Asbestos Exposure?

John: Okay. And then there’s the case where maybe you weren’t an employee at the Lorillard Tobacco Company, but you just smoked these Kent cigarettes during this period from 1952 to 1956. And if that’s the case, could you sue Lorillard for your exposure?

Paul: Absolutely. There’s been a number of cases throughout the country under that very scenario. And Lorillard can definitely be held accountable to people that thought they were smoking the safe cigarette, when in fact, it turned out they were smoking something that had two carcinogens in it.

John: And you mentioned at the beginning that Lorillard has been bought out by one or two different companies since then. Is there any issue with going after those companies now, since Lorillard itself doesn’t exist anymore?

Paul: It has no impact on anything. The successors are still responsible for Lorillard’s prior products, prior activities. And so to the extent that someone suffered an exposure, whether it was a former employee, it was a smoker only, or perhaps a child or spouse of someone who worked at Lorillard has zero impact on the ability to hold those companies accountable.

John: All right. That’s great information, Paul. Thanks again for speaking with me today.

Paul: Excellent. Thank you, John. I appreciate it.

Contact Satterley & Kelley If You Have Mesothelioma Due to Asbestos Exposure

John: And for more information about mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, visit the law firm of Satterley & Kelley at satterlylaw.com, or call 855-385-9532.