Asbestos: A Deadly Danger

Elaine Mandel

Attorney

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Many who were exposed to deadly asbestos fibers still don't know they were exposed.

Throughout the twentieth century, hundreds of thousands of workers worked with and around deadly asbestos fibers. Most of them worked with insulation or in the shipping, construction, mining or railroad industries. Many of these workers inhaled the deadly asbestos fibers for years. Those fibers caused lung damage, leading to asbestosis or the always fatal disease mesothelioma. Even worse, many of the workers came home at night, with deadly asbestos fibers clinging to their clothes. Family members were often exposed to 'second-hand' asbestos fibers and developed these conditions as well.

Unfortunately, many people still don't know they were exposed. At a Salt Lake City plant that processed an ore called vermiculite, workers weren't told until recently that the ore they worked with every day contained asbestos.

The microscopic fibers filled the thick vermiculite dust in the mine, at the plant and even in the air surrounding the community. With every breath, the sharp fibers speared into lung tissue. And often 10 to 40 years later, the body responded with lung cancer, asbestosis or mesothelioma, a cancer triggered only by asbestos.
The EPA has sued W.R. Grace, the company that owned the mine and dozens of processing plants, to recover cleanup expenses, although the company declared bankruptcy. In February, the U.S. Justice Department indicted seven Grace executives and the company itself for conspiracy, obstruction and Clean Air Act violations.

Kiesel Boucher & Larson represents those who suffer from mesothelioma and their family members. Last year one of Kiesel Boucher & Larson's partners represented a man who was dying from mesothelioma. A Los Angeles jury awarded him over $10 million. He died a few months later. If you worked in an asbestos-related industry, you should be checked for asbestosis and get the treatment you need.