Paul Kelley talks about the recent ban on asbestos in the United States by the EPA, what this means for public health, awareness and education, as well as how this effects ongoing and future legal claims regarding asbestos exposure and mesothelioma.

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 45 years of collective experience in litigating mesothelioma and asbestos claims. Today we’re talking about the EPA banning asbestos and what this means for mesothelioma cases. Welcome, Paul.

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

John: I’m doing well, thanks. How are you?

Paul:  Doing good, thanks.

EPA Ban on Asbestos and What It Means for Public Health

John: We just heard, Paul, that the EPA has announced a complete ban on asbestos. That news might come as a surprise to some people who might think that asbestos, of course, has already been banned, but as we’ve talked about before on previous episodes of this podcast, that’s not the case. Talk about that a little bit and then, as a mesothelioma attorney, how significant is this new news for public health moving forward?

Paul: Oh, gosh, John, it’s a wonderful thing. It’s been a long process in the making to get to this point. They actually started working on the ban of all forms of asbestos way back in the ’70s, and in the late ’80s – early ’90s there was a push to ban chrysotile asbestos and it didn’t get pushed through. There’s a lot of different reasons why it didn’t get pushed through at that time, but the biggest reason is that industry fought it heavily. And, however it happened — it predated my time as a lawyer and whatnot –but they were successful in beating this back. Every so often — I’ve been handling mesothelioma cases, asbestos cases, for about 21, 22 years now — we would hear about it periodically that there’s a push to ban chrysotile asbestos.

To refresh everybody’s memory, asbestos is a naturally-occurring product. There are six different fiber types. Of those six different fiber types, three historically have been used for commercial purposes. What I mean by that is that there are three different types that have been purposely used as an ingredient in various products. There are 3000 products historically that asbestos has been found in: thermal insulation, friction products, which would be breaks and clutches, tile. More recently, folks have heard about things being in talcum powders and things like that.

Amosite and crocidolite were effectively banned in the ’70s, and there was some science that indicated that those fiber types were more carcinogenic than chrysotile. Nobody has ever said that chrysotile is not carcinogenic. Chrysotile comprised or was the ingredient in 95% of the asbestos products that have historically been used commercially in the United States since asbestos started being used in the 1930s and 1940s. It was very, very prevalent. No one has ever indicated that chrysotile is harmless. The EPA has never said that chrysotile is harmless. In fact, the EPA, OSHA, NIOSH, World Health Organization, numerous United States and international agencies, have routinely concluded in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, all the way up to today, that any exposure to asbestos, any fiber type, including chrysotile, is capable of causing mesothelioma, capable of causing lung cancer and other forms of cancer.

It’s not like there was suddenly an epiphany that occurred in the last few years that led to this. What occurred is industry fought for a long time to not ban this product. There were two reasons for it, I think. I’ll preface this and tell you this is my educated opinion based on my experience as a lawyer.

John: Sure.

Paul: Reason number one is they still wanted to sell it. It was sold … Canada has historically been a big supplier of chrysotile asbestos. There actually used to be a town in Canada called Asbestos. I think it’s in Quebec. A lot of companies would still use asbestos in their products and it would be chrysotile because that’s what you could get in the United States. They wanted to use it and they wanted to use it probably because it’s cheaper, easier, and it’s just that simple. Lord knows, even outside the asbestos context, you can find scores and scores of corporations that have sacrificed health and safety for cost and convenience. That’s partially what’s happened.

The other issue I think, which probably requires a higher level of cynicism, but I think it’s certainly true, is that asbestos litigation has been rampant for over 40 years now. What I have experienced as a lawyer is vastly different today than what it was when I first started doing it in the early 2000s. It used to be that defendants would concede that their product or the asbestos in their product certainly was capable of causing mesothelioma.

But they just said, “The person didn’t get enough exposure to our product to cause it. It was somebody else’s product. Have a nice day, move on.” As the years have progressed, they have worked with scientists that are friends of the industry to publish medical and scientific literature that essentially concludes that chrysotile asbestos is either completely harmless, it just wouldn’t cause cancer, or the exposure would take so much exposure that nobody could realistically get enough exposure to chrysotile to cause disease.

At least some of these defendants always point out, “Well, look, asbestos isn’t even banned in the United States.” We would get motions, we still get motions in virtually every case, that I should be precluded from identifying all the European countries and all the countries throughout the world that have banned even chrysotile asbestos in their countries as proof that chrysotile’s dangerous. Lots of courts still go with us on those issues. Some courts might go with them.

From a public health standpoint, the biggest problem with asbestos is the lengthy latency period. Somebody can have exposure today and they won’t develop cancer in 10 years. They probably won’t even develop cancer in 20 years. It’ll be 30, 40, 50 years down the road before they develop that cancer. One of the reasons why laws like OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Environmental Protection Act and these [other] agencies exist is to protect people from industry, but also to protect people from themselves. People don’t fully understand and appreciate the risks. They don’t do what I do for a living. They’re not doctors. They’re not scientists.

I get calls all the time from folks who are 25-years-old that say, “Guys, I was working at a place and they shut the job site down after two weeks because they said there was asbestos here.” They’re worried and they should be worried, but that worry is not something that’s going to immediately cause them harm. It’s something that they have to be concerned about for really the rest of their lives.

Removing that risk is never a bad thing. We’re never going to eliminate every possible source of chrysotile exposure in this country because, unfortunately, it still exists in factories and powerhouses, all kinds of industrial plants in the United States today where it’s been wrapped up. Supposedly it’s safe and people won’t be harmed. But we certainly have this great ability to stop people from being exposed to prospective new products today, even if it’s only a handful of products in the United States today, and it probably is just a handful of products, but so what? Let’s say that 10,000 people might be exposed to a brand new asbestos product in the United States today and now hopefully that’ll be nil in a couple of years. Well, that’s a lot of people moving forward that just won’t have that risk anymore. Hopefully 30, 40 years down the road after I’m long gone, hopefully there won’t be a need for people like me to go after companies that knowingly expose people to an asbestos product. It’s certainly a great thing to remove and eliminate another risk.

We still have other risk in industry, old products and things like that, and we need to deal with those too. In large part, I think a lot of companies today certainly do try to avoid those risks and do the things they need to do, but not allowing people to be exposed to a brand new product that was intended to have asbestos, it’s going to save lives in the future. There’s absolutely no question about that. It’s just too bad that it didn’t happen 30 years ago because we could have saved even more lives over the last 30 years and even moving forward than what this is going to do. But I’ll never be critical of finally doing the right thing. It’s certainly a great day for workers all throughout this country, and they have so many other things they have to be concerned about, so many other ways they can be injured, so many ways that they don’t come home to their families, and eliminating this future risk is a wonderful thing and we couldn’t be happier.

Effects of the Asbestos Ban on Existing Products

John: Right, absolutely. This does, like you said, eliminate that future risk of any new products being introduced that might have asbestos in them, but many people have been exposed to asbestos already in the past. Obviously the ban now doesn’t change the fact that somebody who’s already been exposed to asbestos has already been exposed. You can’t go back in time and fix that. Does it have any sort of retroactive effect on products maybe that are out there right now? Does this ban mean that products that have asbestos in them that are existing out there now have to be removed or anything like that? What’s the situation?

Paul: Unfortunately, this is a bit of a process. I believe that the ban is going to give a period of two or three years before it goes completely into effect. Again, lots of times that’s not because the EPA’s saying, “We think these products are safe,” of course they don’t. But from a regulatory standpoint, there’s only so much that entities like the EPA and OSHA can do. They have to give industry enough time to remove [asbestos] and come up with alternative products and get them out of the marketplace.

Unfortunately, I would tell people, particularly those who are mechanics that might come into contact with brakes, or they do home remodeling and use things like joint compounds and do plaster and drywall work, maybe people that still use gaskets for any reason, I would still counsel those people pay especial attention to what it is that you’re using because the products just didn’t come off the shelves immediately and they’re not going to come off the shelves immediately. It’s still going to take some time. I wish that things worked that quickly.

It’s very similar to what happened when the OSHA regulations were enacted back in the ’70s. There were what’s called permissible exposure levels that were allowable in industrial settings or any place where asbestos was used. Those permissible exposure levels were quite high, and they were never going to stop people from getting cancer. Today, the permissible exposure levels are down to essentially the lowest amount that you could ever reasonably expect in any sort of industrial setting where asbestos is. Those exposure levels still aren’t considered safe. Those exposure levels still result in cancer, but it’s the best that our government can do.

The reason why we have lawsuits and the right to recover in our court system is because the government can only do so much to protect people. You want industry to say, “Okay, well, this is banned. I am going to do a recall. I am going to take this off my shelf now. I’m not going to wait two years for this to come into effect,” but frequently they don’t do that. Some will, some won’t. Government does its part, the best it can do, to protect people, and then we come in to take care of those actors that still didn’t quite get the message.

The bottom line is that, yes, there’s going to be a period of time that people are still going to potentially come into contact with a product manufactured in 2024 or 2025 that contains asbestos. Just like you do with your food, just like you do with drugs and other things, look at those labels. Make sure you understand what’s in them, and even if it seems harmless, and even if it seems like, “I’m not going to use this product more than today, ever,” there’s been documented reports in the medical and scientific literature of people being exposed to asbestos for one day and getting cancer. Yeah, I wish we lived in a perfect world, but of course, if we lived in the perfect world, these products would’ve been banned even before the ’90s. They would’ve been banned in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and then we’d have a whole population of people still alive today.

The EPA Asbestos Ban’s Effect on Ongoing Mesothelioma Lawsuits

John: Sure. Could this EPA asbestos ban affect ongoing mesothelioma lawsuits or future legal claims in any way? I know you mentioned that defense attorneys might say something like, “Well, asbestos isn’t even banned in the United States,” as part of their defense. Obviously it would change that a little bit and it would allow you to say, “Well, no, in fact, asbestos has now been banned fully in the United States.” Are there other ways in which it could affect current or ongoing mesothelioma lawsuits?

Paul: No, I think the main way that I think it will impact future lawsuits or current lawsuits is exactly what you mentioned. It’s such a fight, and we have to answer all of these questions, and we do a lot of jury research and we talk to jurors after trials, win or lose. We do focus groups. It’s a very common question that we get, “Is all asbestos banned in the United States?”

When you tell them, “No, it’s not,” then the next question is, “Well, why not? If it’s so terrible how come it hasn’t been banned?” It’s a hard question and it’s something that you really have to dig in with jurors and you have to explain to them this regulatory framework that we live in and what I think is that it’ll help. It’s not going to eliminate all the issues that we have in these cases. They’re still going to say, “Well, gosh, it was just banned. We thought for 50 years it was fine,” but it certainly takes away an argument that they didn’t have three weeks ago before this ban came into effect.

We can now say, look, the EPA has said two very important things about asbestos. Three important things. First of all, they say that all fiber types are capable of causing disease, and they’ve said that forever. Number two, they say that it doesn’t take a lifetime of exposure or what people would say is an outrageously long period of exposure to cause mesothelioma. That’s all fiber types. It’s said that for a long time. Now it says that every type of asbestos product, including chrysotile asbestos, needs to be gone, needs to be out. I promise you the defendants are going to aggressively fight that issue and try to get that excluded and argue that a ban today has nothing to do with what they were doing 20, 30, 40 years ago.

We’ll argue, “Look, it used to be that you wanted the fact that it hadn’t been banned to get in,” and I’ll be able to tell all these courts what their position used to be. Their position used to be, “Yeah, we get to tell that there’s never been a ban on chrysotile asbestos.” Well, today there is, and hopefully it’s just one more piece of evidence for the jury to consider, for the courts to consider that this is a harmful product, that this product is capable of causing disease, that it has caused disease in tens of thousands of people over the last 40, 50 years. The EPA has been trying to get it banned for a number of years, has been fighting folks like these defendants that are in this courtroom right now, has been fighting these folks trying to get it banned and now it, in fact, is banned. I can’t imagine this hurting future litigants and current and ongoing cases.

I’ll concede that it’s not going to be the death blow or the most critical piece of evidence to any case. We still have to prove all the things that we have to prove, and we’re usually able to do it, but it takes something away from them. I promise you they didn’t like it. They didn’t like when this announcement came out. They’re not going to like it when we mention it in front of the judge. They’re going to try to get it excluded and to prevent the jury from having this piece of information.

Inevitably, when we’re in the middle of the trial, sometimes judges will allow the jurors to ask questions. We always get that question.

John: Right, “has it been banned?”

Paul: I just think it would be highly prejudicial to our side for this fact, this living, breathing fact, to exist and to not be able to tell the jury that, “Now everything’s been banned in this country and it’s not because the government thinks it’s safe, it’s not because the government thinks that it takes so much exposure. The government banned it because its position has been for 40, 50 years since the existence of the EPA, its position’s been that all types cause disease and any kind of exposure can get disease. We’re taking this product off the shelf so we can begin to reduce that risk to future generations so their families don’t have to go through what tens of thousands of other families have gone through over the last 50, 60, 70 years.”

How the EPA Ban On Asbestos May Influence Future Awareness and Educational Efforts

John: Right. Going back to the public health issue, how might this development influence future awareness and educational efforts regarding the dangers of asbestos exposure?

Paul: Well, I hope that, certainly, people will get an accurate understanding of the health risks associated with asbestos and specifically chrysotile asbestos. We live in a world now where information is at your fingertips, but we also live in a world where there’s a lot of misinformation out there. Again, if you got on Google right now and you research the issue of asbestos-containing brakes, and chrysotile was the type of asbestos that was used in brakes, you’ll probably find some articles from industry or that were created by the asbestos industry. They don’t necessarily overtly say that they were. They would suggest that chrysotile asbestos in brakes was safe, harmless, not going to cause anybody any health problems.

Now I would hope that what’s going to be at the forefront of anybody’s research is that the EPA has now banned all fiber types of asbestos, and that hopefully it’ll help folks understand that this is not something that you should take lightly. This isn’t something when you’re 18, 25, 30 years old, you think, “Oh, I’m invincible. It’s no big deal. This is just one or two days of exposure.” I really think that this is going to go a long way to continue to educate people.

We do jury trials all the time, and actually, I think most people do think that asbestos is harmful. They hear asbestos, they’re like, “Well, you don’t want to be exposed to asbestos.” But they start hearing things and they start researching things even though we know they’re not supposed to. The courts tell them, “Don’t research anything,” but we know what happens. It’s just the way it is. This is 2024. Everybody has lots of information at their fingertips, and we’re hoping that from a legal standpoint, from a lawsuit standpoint, that people don’t get bad information.

But more importantly, from a health standpoint, we want the most accurate information out there. I don’t want people to have to do what I do for a living 40, 50 years down the road. I just want people to not have this exposure anymore and to not run the risk of when their life is going good in their retirement years or, God forbid, when they’re young and still have kids and a young family and a whole life ahead of them, that they develop this cancer. Hopefully now when people do their research and maybe are at a job site and their employer or the premises owner or somebody that has less-than-pure motives tells them that what they’re working with is okay, that it’s no big deal, “just get back to work”, hopefully this will be something that’ll be front and center of any research they do, and they’ll be able to know the right questions to go ask.

Also, you hope that it’s just a little bit more information for physicians. I know it’s crazy. We have gosh-knows how many physicians in the United States, and most of them don’t specialize in asbestos-type of diseases. Most of them certainly have no particular knowledge concerning asbestos diseases, the uses of asbestos. Just perhaps if somebody takes this information back to their doctors and their doctor says, “Well, I just saw that EPA just banned all types.”

I actually got a call the other day from a client who told me that their doctor said not to be concerned about past exposure, just worry about prospective exposure. I don’t agree with that, but at least that’s one step in the right direction. Remove yourself from the exposure.

John: Sure.

Paul: It’s probably a little unclear as to exactly how much impact this will have, but again, it can’t be a bad thing, the government issuing a significant proclamation that something that’s been in use for 80, 90 years now is completely banned in this country. It can’t be a bad thing, and hopefully people will get the information they need, be able to make decisions, and not put themselves at risk. That’s all we’ve ever wanted.

If Someone Has Developed Mesothelioma, What Should They Do?

John: Absolutely. So then, finally, if somebody has been exposed to asbestos in the past or could be currently being exposed and they’ve now developed mesothelioma, what should they do?

Paul: We’ve talked about this in a lot of other podcasts we’ve done. The problem with mesothelioma is, unfortunately, at this point in time, it’s terminal cancer. You hear the rare success story every now and again, but for the most part, people pass away from this disease within a couple years of diagnosis, sometimes a lot quicker. Getting your medical treatment and a medical strategy in place is certainly the most important task that I think folks need to do. Depending on what stage they’re in, there are surgeries that can be performed, there are different types of chemotherapy treatment, there’s radiation, there’s immunotherapy. The younger people are the better the outcome and a larger period of survival. It’s very, very important that you and your family feel comfortable with the medical care and situation.

Unfortunately, in Kentucky, where I’m at, in most states, there’s a statute of limitations for pursuing any case against any wrong party who caused this cancer. While you’re working on your medical plan, I think it’s important to consult an attorney, an attorney who knows these cases, knows how to identify the parties that caused or contributed to this cancer, knows the jurisdiction in the court. You should talk to an attorney immediately and hopefully retain somebody that you feel comfortable with because that person’s going to be your biggest and best advocate for the length of your case. That person is going to be the difference between whether you have sufficient resources while you’re fighting this cancer and also, will you leave sufficient resources to your family that may need that to survive.

Unfortunately, things don’t get better as time progresses. Six months post-diagnosis, your medical situation could take a significant downward turn. Co-workers may pass away. Co-workers may not be found. A year goes by very, very quickly when you’re pursuing a lawsuit, so it’s very important to do two things, get your medical situation in the best possible place that you and your family are comfortable with, at peace with. But if you are considering holding someone else accountable or just want to get information about what can be done, contact an attorney. Contact an attorney that knows what they’re doing, has experience with these cases, and find out what your rights are, and then make a decision as to what is best for you and your family and what you want to do about it.

John: All right, well that’s really great information, and I really hope that this EPA ban on asbestos really has some significant effects moving forward in terms of public health in this country. Thanks again for speaking with me, Paul.

Paul: Thanks, John. Have a great day.

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

In this podcast, Paul Kelley explains the history of asbestos in brakes and friction products. Then, he talks about who was exposed and what to do if you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another cancer due to exposure to asbestos in brakes.

John Maher: Hi, I am John Maher and I’m here today with Paul Kelley. Paul is a partner with the Kentucky personal injury law firm, Satterley and Kelley, which has over 45 years of collective experience in litigating mesothelioma and asbestos claims. Today we’re talking about brakes and mesothelioma. Welcome, Paul.

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

John: Good, thanks. How are you?

Paul: Doing well.

History of Asbestos in Car and Truck Brakes

John: Yeah. So, tell me a little bit, Paul, about where asbestos has historically been used in brakes for cars and trucks.

Paul: So, John, historically, asbestos has been used in both drum brakes and disc brakes back in the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s and really through the ’80s, most brakes were drum brakes. And so, you had a drum, you had two linings. They were moon shaped and they operated to brake, to stop the vehicle.

And then as we got into the ’80s and ’90s, and probably what’s most common today are disc brakes. And so, historically, the asbestos has been the linings in the drum brakes, so those little crescent segments. And then with respect to the disc brakes, it’s the pads. So, you’ve got a disc and you’ve got the pad, or the two pads and the pads work with a disc to stop the vehicle from moving.

John: And those pads and linings are on there basically so that you don’t have a metal piece scraping against the metal piece of the wheel. You don’t want that metal on metal, so they have these pads to absorb the impact, if you will.

Paul: Absolutely. Brakes wouldn’t last very long if you didn’t have something to prevent the metal on metal process.

Is There Still Asbestos in Brakes?

John: Has the use of asbestos now stopped in brakes?

Paul: Well, certainly in the United States it has. I believe the last documented manufacturer of asbestos containing brakes in the United States was probably around 2001. That having been said, I believe that internationally there’s still some companies that sell asbestos brakes. They’re probably not sold in the United States, at least not on a primary market. It’s not to say that they can’t make them here secondarily. And certainly in parts of Asia, probably Africa, maybe even parts of Europe, you could probably still buy asbestos-containing brakes today.

Who Was Affected by Asbestos in Brakes?

John: Yeah. And who would typically be exposed to the asbestos that’s found in brake linings and pads?

Paul: Oh gosh, a lot of folks. So, certainly, John, you would have the people who manufactured the brakes. And usually they worked with the supply of raw asbestos, and they would mix the materials. And people that were in the plants that made the linings and made the brake pads would certainly get a high level of asbestos exposure.

Then in addition, the people who manufactured cars and were responsible for installing the friction products onto the cars. We call brakes, friction products. So, the pads, linings, clutches, even those whole systems are what we call friction products.

And people who worked in these manufacturing plants and made a car, and they’re on the assembly line, and all they’re doing all day every day is putting brakes onto a car, putting the linings on, putting the pads on. And they were exposed in a variety of different ways from doing that.

Sometimes they had to sand the linings in order to get them to fit onto the drum. Sometimes there would be imperfections that were on the linings that they want to take a piece of sandpaper or some type of cloth and rub it off. Sometimes they grinded the linings in order to make them even more smooth and able to fit on. Sometimes they had to cut the linings because they might be too big. So, people who were engaged in the vehicle manufacturing process.

Then after that, you’ve got the people that worked in the automotive garage mechanic industry. I mean all the auto mechanics. There was a time when there were tens of thousands of mom-and-pop auto mechanic shops throughout the United States. In 2023, cars have gotten so sophisticated that you see a lot of auto dealerships and big operations. But I mean, it used to be that you couldn’t walk five blocks in most cities and towns without finding a small mechanic shop.

And the main work that they did back then, oil changes, filters, and they did a lot of brake work. Brakes wore out back in those days. They probably wore out even quicker than they do today. So, automotive mechanics were exposed quite frequently. We’ve seen people who worked for bus companies that have huge, heavy duty brakes on those vehicles, and they were involved in the inspection process. They were involved in things that might not have to do with the actual replacement of the brakes. But these things, when you stop a two ton bus, it applies so much friction that dust flies in the air and people could be exposed in that way.

We have represented a number of people that worked in the mining industry. So, coal mining is very prominent here in Kentucky. And in other parts of the world there’s talc mining, and other precious metal, and rock mining. And a lot of the equipment they used contain brakes and friction products that contained asbestos. So, the mechanics, the electricians, people that had to work on those types of vehicles were exposed to asbestos from those products.

In addition, sometimes brakes were used to operate industrial equipment. So, things that are not on the road, but things that are in a manufacturing plant. And they operate with motors and other sophisticated processes. And sometimes those pieces of equipment contain asbestos-containing brakes, friction products. And so, the people that are operating those machines, they change them out. They’re constantly stopping and applying that pressure that dust keeps flying up. And then sometimes in major industrial cities, maybe not so much today, but probably in the ’60s and ’70s, there were studies that so many vehicles, I mean every vehicle had asbestos-containing brakes.

And so, in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, I mean you name the major metropolitan city, there were higher levels of asbestos that were just generally in the air that people had exposure to from all these vehicles constantly braking every two seconds in a major metropolitan area. And it’s not as much of a problem today, of course, because we don’t have a lot of asbestos brakes. But it got better over the years just from companies, and cities, and industrial hygienists being a little bit more aware of the processes. But it was a really bad problem in the ’60s or ’70s.

And then probably the final group is family members whose loved ones worked in all the kinds of ways that we’ve talked about. Auto mechanics, manufacturers of the products, and people that were in the mining industry, their spouses or their children frequently were exposed to asbestos dust that got onto their clothing. They unknowingly brought it home to their wife, or their kids, or their husband, and there was an exposure.

Secondary Exposure for Family Members of People Who Work With Asbestos-Containing Brakes

John: Right. They tossed it in the laundry or something like that, and that dust is flying everywhere in the laundry room.

Paul: Absolutely. And unfortunately, because there was not much awareness in the general public at that time, people didn’t just come home and change out of their clothes. I mean, if they weren’t covered in oil and grease and that sort of thing, if it was just some dust, they’d come home and lounge around on the couch or at the kitchen table, hug their kids. And lots of times the dust would get into the house, it would get into their carpeting, their furniture, their cars.

And there is very special and highly sophisticated equipment that has been developed over the years to remove asbestos from industrial settings. If somebody came into a plant down the street from where I’m at today and they needed to remove asbestos, they wouldn’t just come in and bring some standard Hoover vacuum cleaner. They have to bring in highly specialized equipment in order to remove that dust. And even then, it’s not a thousand percent perfect.

So, imagine back in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, a husband or a wife comes home after working in an auto garage all day every day where they’re doing dozens of brake jobs, and they’ve got dust all over their clothes, and it gets into the house, there’s no real way to remove it. I mean, maybe over a period of years, if there was never any more exposure, again, maybe eventually it would be gone.

But if day in and day out, year, after year, after year they’re bringing it home, it’s in that house and it’s never going away. And there’s no domestic piece of cleaning equipment that can remove asbestos dust, whether it’s from brakes or something else from your home. And a lot of people that I’ve represented over the years, unfortunately, were unknowingly exposed in that way.

And unlike folks that are exposed in the occupational setting, I mean, they have no chance. I mean, they’re not warned. They wouldn’t have the equipment to protect themselves, and they certainly don’t have the knowledge. So, brakes contained asbestos in this country prevalently through the early 2000s. And unfortunately what that means, John, is a lot of people are going to develop asbestos cancers probably for the next 30 or 40 years as a result of that.

Who Manufactured Asbestos-Containing Brakes?

John: Right. Are there specific manufacturers of brakes that are documented to have contained asbestos? Or maybe certain locations or countries where the use of asbestos and brakes was common?

Paul: Sure. So, in the United States there were certainly dozens of manufacturers. But a couple of the bigger ones, there was a company called Bendix. Bendix doesn’t exactly exist today. It was bought out eventually by a company called Honeywell, that I’m sure everybody’s familiar with. They still sell the Bendix line of brakes today because it was the most predominant manufacturer of all friction products dating back to the ’50s, ’60s, and moving forward. It was such a big name that when Honeywell bought out that product line, they didn’t change the name of the brakes because it was synonymous with quality and whatnot.

Unfortunately, all of their brakes contained asbestos through the early 1980s. And then even when they started to phase them out, they didn’t just go cold turkey. I mean, they had a non asbestos product line, and then eventually they did get rid of it. All of your automobile manufacturers, Ford, Chrysler, GM, all of your foreign manufacturers, they all had their own brake line. Now, a lot of those may have been the linings themselves were probably supplied by a company like Bendix, but they were sold under the Ford name or they were sold under the GM name.

And you know the kind of people I’m talking about. If they bought a Ford, the only people that worked on that car was the Ford dealership. And if it was the Ford dealership, they were putting a Ford brake onto that vehicle. And at least until the early 1980s, and if it was a drum brake in particular, it contained asbestos, no question about it. And the same would be true for pretty much all of your auto manufacturers.

Of course, foreign cars probably didn’t become a big deal in this country until the ’80s and in the 1990s, but they all basically had their own product line. There were other companies, a few of them have gone into bankruptcy. But a company called Abex was also a big manufacturer of asbestos-containing brakes, historically probably stopped in the mid 1980s. Carlisle, that’s a company that predominantly manufactured heavy duty brakes for your big semi trucks. And Carlisle manufactured asbestos brakes, at least till the mid 1980s, if not the early ’90s.

A company called Rayloc or Rayloc was the product line. People were probably more familiar with NAPA Auto Parts, a company called Genuine Parts. But that was a very, very predominant and prevalent product line. People walked into their NAPA store and they bought Rayloc brakes. And those brakes contained asbestos for the most part deep into the 1980s. So, there are many, many, many more. And the rule of thumb is if you did that work before 2001 in any way, whether it was in the manufacturing plant or the automobile mechanic industry, guaranteed you were exposed and probably guaranteed you were exposed a lot.

Manufacturers Used Asbestos Brakes Until the Early 2000s

John: Absolutely. Yeah. And you said that some of the brakes actually contained asbestos all the way up until the early 2000s?

Paul: Yeah, absolutely. And I think it’s probably because cars last for a long time if people take care of them. So, if a car was designed with an asbestos-containing brake, it was better to replace it with an asbestos-containing brake. I think there became a point where A, a lot of those vehicles were just not on the market anymore. But I think it also came to a spot where they developed non-asbestos alternatives to put on those vehicles.

But no doubt. And we’re aware, there was a plant here in Kentucky, it was actually a Rayloc plant. And we know for a fact that that plant manufactured brakes that contained asbestos until 2001. And some of the linings that were used in that plant were supplied by Bendix or the Bendix product line. And that’s conclusively documented and proven in cases that we’ve been involved in.

And so, the concern is that with the long latency period, and what that means, John, is how long it takes to develop a disease from the first exposure, and mesothelioma has a very lengthy latency period. It can be as little as 10 years, but that’s rare. It’s usually in a range of 20 to 60 years. So, that means that somebody could be exposed in their twenties for the very first time, and they very well may not develop that disease until their ’60s or ’70s. So, if you’re doing the math, somebody that was a teenager in 2001 doing brake work, they’re at risk their entire lives. And I fully expect that there will be a certain percentage of people that did that kind of work through 2001 that unfortunately will develop this cancer.

The good news is it’s highly unlikely people are being widely exposed to asbestos from friction product work now. But to be perfectly frank, it really doesn’t matter for all those people that were exposed prior to 2001. And we probably don’t need to get too deep into it, but these manufacturers and distributors of these products were well aware in the ’60s and ’70s, maybe even the 1950s, that asbestos was a carcinogen, that it would expose people to hazardous levels of dust from doing brake work, and that people would develop cancer.

So, what’s happened is as we get into 2023, I’m not here to speak on statistics, but I can tell you that there’s been tens of thousands of cases involving people that either professionally did brake work or did what we call the shade tree mechanic work, where they did it at home for family and friends that have developed mesothelioma.

And a large percentage of those people never had any exposure other than the brakes. And so, my adversaries will say that their products don’t cause cancer, even though they knew back in the ’60s that they did. But I think the evidence is sufficient to indicate not only can it cause cancer, but it’s caused cancer for an awful lot of people over a very large period of time. And it took them probably 25-30 years before they took the product off the market, after we started seeing all of these mechanics and factory workers or assemblers being diagnosed with asbestos cancer, mesothelioma.

What to Do If You Have Mesothelioma Due to Exposure to Asbestos in Brakes

John: And what should someone do if they believe that they now have mesothelioma? And I think that it was caused by the asbestos that’s in these brick linings and pads.

Paul: Well, there’s so many things that the people do need to do. Unfortunately, in Kentucky where I’m at, we have a one-year statute of limitations to file a claim. That’s one year from the date that you know or should know that you have an injury, and know or should know the cause of the injury. But my rule of thumb is one year from the date of diagnosis, because you don’t want to run the risk that a judge or jury may have a different opinion as to when your statute ran.

So, it’s important to contact a lawyer immediately and start discussing the options. The other big problem that folks have, of course, is their medical situation. Mesothelioma in particular is a terminal cancer. The statistics are very grim for people who have been diagnosed with that disease. And there’s a life expectancy of about 12 to 18 months from the date of diagnosis.

So, people who are diagnosed with mesothelioma have two things that they really have to worry about. One is what their legal rights are and how to hold those accountable for causing their cancer. And then the more important issue is to take care of their medical situation as best they can. There are surgeries, there’s various treatments, and the science is getting better.

But I tell everybody, unfortunately, you don’t have the luxury of getting your medical care completely worked out and have a plan in place. It’s really important to talk to a lawyer, do your research, find lawyers that have had experience with asbestos cases, and specifically experience with automobile brake cases or friction product cases. It’s highly specialized. People don’t dabble in what we do successfully. And these defendants have a unique defense in these cases. And so, it’s important to hire somebody that knows how to deal with those defenses, and respond to them appropriately, and be successful for you and your family.

This is a terrible time of need that people will be in when they’re diagnosed with this cancer. And they just need to find the right attorney that they feel comfortable with, they can develop a good relationship with, and certainly an attorney that doesn’t need to recreate the wheel, so to speak, when the case comes in. That they’re prepared to hit the ground running. And I feel like my law firm is uniquely situated. Particularly here in Kentucky, we do a lot of that work. And quite frankly, a lot of what we’ve done over the last 10 years has been a lot of friction product work because as we predicted, there would be a lot of these cases and there have been, and there will continue to be many cases.

Contact Satterley and Kelley to Learn More

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

Paul: Thank you, John.

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