OCCUPATIONS AT RISK

The following industrial occupations are those most often associated with high levels of asbestos exposure:

• Aerospace and missile production workers
• Aircraft manufacturing production workers
• Aircraft mechanics
• Asbestos textile mill workers
• Automobile manufacturing production workers, including automobile mechanics and brake repairers
• Boilermakers
• Brake and clutch manufacturing and assembly workers
• Building engineers
• Building material products manufacturers
• Cement plant production workers
• Coast guardsmen
• Construction workers, including insulators, boilermakers, laborers, steel/ironworkers, plumbers, steam fitters, plasterers, drywallers, cement and masonry workers, roofers, tile/linoleum installers, carpenters, HVAC mechanics and welders
• Custodians
• Demolition and wrecking crews
• Electrical workers, including electricians, electrical and telephone linemen
• Family members of occupationally exposed people
• Insulation manufacturing plant workers
• Insulators
• Longshoremen
• Machinists
• Merchant mariners
• Packing and gasket manufacturing plant workers
• Pipefitters
• Powerhouse workers, including insulators and pipefitters
• Protective clothing and glove makers
• Railroad workers, including locomotive mechanics, car mechanics and rebuilders, and maintenance personnel
• Refinery workers, including insulators and pipefitters
• Refractory products plant workers
• Rubber workers, including tire makers and hose makers
• Sheetmetal workers
• Shipyard workers, including electricians, insulators, laborers, laggers, painters, pipefitters, maintenance workers and welders
• Steamfitters
• U.S. Navy personnel
• Warehouse workers

HOUSEHOLD EXPOSURE

An individual does not have to work within an industrial environment to receive a high concentration of occupational exposure. The risk of asbestos-related diseases reaches beyond the workplace and into the homes of individual workers exposed to asbestos while on the job. They unintentionally bring it home from work on their clothes, skin, hair, tools or vehicles, thereby exposing their families to the risk of developing mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer and other illnesses.

Family members of workers are increasingly being diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases. A review of death certificates in the United States published by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in 2002, found that nearly 20% of mesothelioma victims were females and that the second most common occupation recorded on the death certificates of mesothelioma victims in 1999 was “housewife/homemaker.”

How Household Exposure Occurs

In addition to being indestructible, asbestos fibers are microscopic, tasteless and odorless. Contaminated by these airborne asbestos fibers in the workplace, workers then unknowingly carry the fibers into their homes on clothing and personal effects, thereby inadvertently exposing children, wives and other household members to the risk of asbestos-related disease. Normal housecleaning and laundry practices are inadequate to decontaminate the homes or clothing.

Warning Signs of Household Exposure

Household exposure may have been prevented had companies using asbestos substituted materials or provided their employees with adequate warnings and protective clothing. Many of these companies, however, failed to warn workers about the danger of asbestos being transferred home or advise them how to prevent transferring asbestos from the jobsites to homes.

It is important for family members to be alert to the warning signs of asbestos-related diseases which can include:

• Anemia
• Back pain
• Chest pain
• Cough
• Enlarged abdomen
• Fever
• Hoarseness
• Recurrent build-up of fluid in the lungs
• Shortness of breath
• Weight loss

In addition to the traditional warning signs, workers can help identify asbestos diseases among family members. Doctors sometimes find it difficult to diagnose spouses and children of workers with asbestos-related diseases because, when asked, they may not remember being exposed to asbestos. This occurs because the latency period, the time over which an asbestos-related disease develops, may take anywhere from 10 to 60 years.