How Was I Exposed to Asbestos? Common Sources of Exposure
Common ways people are exposed to asbestos include:
- Working in high-risk industries like construction, manufacturing, or shipyards
- Living in or renovating older homes with asbestos-containing materials
- Exposure in schools or public buildings built before the 1980s
- Secondary exposure from someone who worked with asbestos
If you were just diagnosed with mesothelioma, your doctor probably told you that asbestos exposure is the most likely cause.
Most people get exposed to asbestos by inhaling contaminated air.
Inhaling these dangerous microscopic particles repeatedly over a long period of time can lead to illnesses like mesothelioma. For those of you who were just diagnosed, it’s likely due to asbestos exposure from decades ago.
So how exactly did you get exposed to asbestos? Read on to learn more about the most common locations of asbestos exposure, so you can determine which one was the most likely cause for you.
Why It’s Important to Identify Where You Were Exposed to Asbestos
Tracing where your asbestos exposure occurred is an important step after a mesothelioma diagnosis. In many cases, exposure happened decades before symptoms appeared, often in the workplace or environment that was once considered safe.
Understanding the source of your exposure may help you determine whether you are entitled to compensation for medical expenses, lost income, and other damages. The source can dictate where that compensation comes from, even if it’s from a previous employer that’s gone out of business.
Figuring out how you were exposed to asbestos can also help protect others, including family members or coworkers who may have been exposed in the same environment. You can warn them of the risk and encourage early screenings to improve their treatment options.
Asbestos Exposure in the Workplace
Many people were exposed to asbestos at work. If you spent the last 40 years working in a dangerous location where asbestos was present, there’s a good chance that inhaling those fibers is what caused your mesothelioma diagnoses.
According to the CDC, the following business types have historically been the most the most dangerous for asbestos exposure at work:
- Automotive repair (particularly for brakes and clutches)
- Construction
- Shipyards, shipping, and shipbuilders
- Steel manufacturing
- Tire installation
- Power plants
- Railroads
- Oil refineries
- Maritime companies
- Mining
Beyond these industries, specific occupations also increase your risk of being exposed to asbestos. If you worked as a boilermaker, bricklayer, carpenter, building inspector, painter, roofer, plumber, pipe fitter, or welder, you may have been exposed to asbestos.
Even though the use of asbestos products declined significantly in the late 1980s, workers were still exposed by working on products and in environments that already had asbestos.
Today, the most common place of asbestos exposure in the US is for people working in construction trades (according to the CDC).
Asbestos Exposure in Homes
Asbestos was commonly used in building materials over the years. So people living in older buildings are at a higher risk of exposure.
Around the house, it’s common for asbestos and asbestos containing products to be found in:
- Insulation
- Older pipes
- Floor tiles
- Roofing
- Ceiling materials
- Siding
- Heating systems
Asbestos is most dangerous when it’s disturbed and microscopic fibers are released into the air.
If you decide to tear out the tiles in your bathroom while doing some home updates, do you know what you’re really dealing with? Outdated building materials may still put you in danger the same way that old lead paint poses serious health problems, even though modern paint has not contained lead for decades.
Asbestos Exposure in Schools
Schools can also contain asbestos in all of the areas where you find them in homes (insulation, piping, roofing, ceilings, floor tiles, etc.).
This means that people can be exposed to asbestos in schools in:
- Classrooms
- Offices
- College dorm rooms
- Hallways
- Gyms and locker rooms
Basically, any school or college campus that was built before the 1980s can have asbestos and pose a risk for asbestos exposure if it’s disturbed.
Other Ways People Get Exposed to Asbestos
Working in certain occupations and being in older homes or schools are the most common causes of asbestos exposure. But there are some other ways that you also could have been exposed, including:
- Working as a first responder after a disaster (like 9/11)
- Smoking cigarettes with asbestos filters
- Unknowingly disturbing asbestos containing materials during home repairs
- From dealing with vintage household items
- Secondary exposure, from sharing a home or workplace with someone else who handled asbestos materials
- Cosmetics, appliances, and other unusual sources of asbestos
There are more ways to be exposed to asbestos than many people realize.
Your Options After Asbestos Exposure
As you can see, exposure may come from more sources than you first assumed. People considered asbestos a very safe and useful building material before discovering the risks, so it saw widespread use. No matter how you got exposed to it, make sure you know what options you have now that you need to deal with mesothelioma and complicated medical treatment plans.
Call us at 855-385-9532, locally 502-589-5600, or contact us online to arrange a free initial consultation with a Satterley & Kelley PLLC lawyer.