Asbestos Exposure and HVAC Workers: Understanding the Risks
For thousands of years, people have known that asbestos, a natural mineral, doesn’t conduct heat. Asbestos use increased significantly around 1900. People discovered that asbestos didn’t conduct electricity, making it an even more valuable commodity.
At the same time, large-scale asbestos mining increased the supply and decreased prices. As the benefits of asbestos became widely known, its adverse health effects became widely known as well. Nevertheless, asbestos use remained common until the 1980s and is still technically legal today.
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If you believe that you were exposed to asbestos, even as a child, speak to a healthcare provider about tests and screening to help diagnose lung-scarring and screen for asbestos-related diseases.
As outlined below, asbestos was an especially important element in commercial and residential HVAC systems. To avoid the liability issues, which are also outlined below, commercial and residential property owners must address the risks of asbestos. That includes asbestos in heating and air conditioning ducts.
Asbestos poses health problems and potential legal liability for property owners.
Today’s property owners must address the health and safety issues that builders ignored for so many years. Likewise, an asbestos exposure attorney must take care of these victims. A single asbestos fiber could cause mesothelioma and many other chronic health problems that are often fatal. These victims desperately need compensation to pay the enormous medical bills associated with such conditions. This compensation also makes the future a little brighter for families experiencing unbelievable tragedy.
Construction Workers and Asbestos Risks
Attics, roofs, and HVAC systems, which are the focus of this blog, usually contain asbestos, even if the structure was built as early as the 1920s.
Attics, especially if they’re directly above the ceiling, are heat magnets. The sun heats this area, and most attics have hot water pipes. The heat accumulation causes home cooling costs to, well, go through the roof.
Speaking of ceilings, drywall surfaces in residential and commercial buildings usually contained asbestos as well. These fibers insulated and stabilized the drywall.
Until the mid-1980s, nearly every building was constructed with asbestos building materials – from roofs to walls to floors to foundations.
To reduce attic heat and therefore cooling costs, builders usually stuffed attics with asbestos, especially chrysotile asbestos, or white asbestos. Builders often wrapped pipes in white asbestos and also used this substance as an insulator. Fiberglass, a more expensive yet almost as effective material, eventually replaced chrysotile asbestos. But that replacement didn’t happen before thousands of construction workers were exposed to attic asbestos.
For much the same reason, roof tiles used before the 1980s usually contained asbestos. Roof tiles take a lot of weather-related wear and tear. Eleven a hairline fracture releases countless microscopic asbestos fibers into the air, meaning that anyone in the area could be exposed to this substance.
“Some asbestos fibers may bypass…your body’s natural defenses…and lodge deep within your lungs. Those fibers can remain in place for a very long time and may never be removed.”Source: American Lung Association |
HVAC workers are among the most at risk for asbestos exposure and asbestos-related diseases.
HVAC mechanics, especially those who worked with school HVAC systems, may have had the highest asbestos exposure risks. They not only worked with asbestos-containing ductwork connectors. They were also exposed if they intentionally or unintentionally damaged or cut old asbestos-containing building materials.
The health risks of asbestos exposure for HVAC workers include:
| Mesothelioma: cancer of the mesothelium, the thin layer of tissue surrounding the body’s organs. This cancer is only known to be caused by asbestos exposure. | Lung cancer |
| Laryngeal cancer: cancer of the larynx (section of the throat called the voicebox) | Ovarian cancer |
| Stomach cancer | Colon cancer |
| Pharyngeal cancer | Asbestosis: a chronic lung disease associated with asbestos exposure |
| Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) | Atelectasis (collapsed lung) |
| Pleural effusion (collection of fluid around the lungs) | Pericardial effusion (collection of fluid around the heart) |
HVAC installers and mechanics may be exposed to a variety of asbestos products, including:
Adhesives: Manufacturers laced joint compound, spray-on materials, mastic products, and other sealants with asbestos, especially around heat sources in basements and attics. Later, HVAC repair workers sanded away these adhesives, releasing asbestos fibers into the workspace.
Asbestos Ductwork: Ductwork connectors contained asbestos because it was a strong, flexible, and heat-resistant substance. Once again, HVAC mechanics directly handled this product when installing and repairing it. Asbestos paper insulation was sometimes wrapped around ductwork as well.
Asbestos Insulation: Asbestos was the go-to insulator in steam or water piping, boiler surfaces, furnace ducts, HVAC ductwork, and baseboard heat registers. These products are often in areas of buildings where heating, ventilation or air conditioning units are stored.
Do You Qualify For Compensation?
Quickly and easily find out how you were exposed by searching W.A.R.D., the largest asbestos database on the planet.
FREE SEARCH >W.R. Grace & Company’s Zonolite building and insulation products contained lots of asbestos. So did similar products made by Johns Manville, Bestwell Gypsum, Gold Bond, Rich Tex Inc., Sprinkmann, and Kaiser Gypsum Company Inc.
Even when builders replaced asbestos with other products, trace amounts of asbestos remained. Zolonite is a good example. Grace’s vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana was adjacent to an asbestos mine. As a result, the company sold asbestos-tainted vermiculite. For that, the EPA fined Grace $250 million in 2008.
For decades, these workers wore no protective equipment. Supposedly, when he was in the Navy in the 1940s, future actor Steve McQueen scraped asbestos off pipes after he went AWOL. Mesothelioma killed him at age 50.
“The overall evidence suggests there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.”Source: National Cancer Institute (NIH)1 |
Asbestos Health Issues
The actor didn’t know he was sick until decades later. By the time doctors diagnosed his mesothelioma, which is a rare and aggressive form of heart-lung cancer, his illness was untreatable.
“Generally, those who develop asbestos-related diseases show no signs of illness for a long time after exposure.”Source: National Cancer Institute (NIH)2 |
Cancer treatments are much more effective today than they were in the 1970s. Unfortunately, many mesothelioma victims have the same experience as McQueen. The combination of a long latency period and a serious illness is often too much to overcome.
The mesothelioma latency period is especially devastating for ambient (environmental) asbestos exposure victims, like family members of asbestos workers or people who lived near asbestos hot spots. At least asbestos workers know to be on the lookout for mesothelioma. Such a diagnosis completely blindsides ambient exposure victims.
Over $30 Billion is still available (No lawsuit. No fees unless you receive money. No risk.) Stake your claim.  |
Your Legal Options
Asbestos exposure victims have roughly the same experience, but not exactly the same experience. Therefore, victims who partner with an Austin asbestos exposure lawyer have several legal options.
Poisoned HVAC workers usually have solid workers’ compensation claims. Victims must only prove their exposure was work-related to obtain disability benefits, including wage replacement and medical bill payment. Similar benefits are available to former servicemembers like McQueen through the VA disability system.
People who worked in these industries prior the mid-1980s have a higher risk of developing asbestos-related diseases:
| Construction | Factories | Foundries | Refineries | Shipyards | Mining / Milling |
| Demolition | Insulation | Steelworkers | Pipe Fitting | Shipbuilding | Mechanics |
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| Roofing | Textiles | Iron workers | Boilers | Firefighting | Brake Repair |
| Flooring | Cement | Electricians | Gasket Repair | Railroad | HVAC |
Unfortunately so do their families.
Second hand asbestos exposure is asbestos exposure.
Ambient and non-ambient (service or work-related) exposure victims also have solid claims against asbestos manufacturers. Companies have a legal duty to warn customers about known product risks, and as mentioned, asbestos manufacturers didn’t fulfill this duty.
Successful negligence plaintiffs can obtain additional compensation for their emotional distress and other noneconomic losses, on top of the compensation for economic losses (medical bills and lost income) mentioned above.
Frequently, the asbestos manufacturer is no longer in business. That’s where asbestos trusts come in.
For example, Grace declared bankruptcy in 2001 rather than face liability lawsuits. As a condition of bankruptcy, Grace and other companies established large victim compensation funds. These funds still contain tens of billions of dollars.
Almost all asbestos exposure and other personal injury claims settle out of court. So, your Austin asbestos lawyer must be a good negotiator, as well as a good litigator.
AsbestosClaims.Law
At AsbestosClaims.Law, our mission to secure compensation for asbestos victims is more than professional; it’s personal.
Our founder, Justinian C. Lane, understands the devastating impacts of asbestos firsthand.
Both his grandparents and father, all asbestos workers, passed away from asbestos-induced cancers without realizing their eligibility for asbestos lawsuits or other forms of compensation.
We aim to prevent such tragic oversights by informing and guiding victims and their families through their legal options.
If you or your loved ones have suffered as a result of asbestos exposure, you could be eligible for considerable compensation. These funds could provide for medical treatments, asbestos removal services, and safeguard your health.
In addition, asbestos trusts offer compensation without the need for a lawsuit, providing a quicker, simpler path to justice.
Reach out to us at [email protected] or (206) 455-9190 for assistance with your claim. We offer compassionate listening, clear explanations, and we don’t charge a dime unless we win your case.
Beyond legal claims, we also advise on veterans’ disability, social security, and employment protection like workers’ compensation, FELA, and The Jones Act for maritime workers.
There’s no risk or cost to connect with our experienced team about your rights. Our commitment to your well-being means no fees unless you receive compensation.
| For further queries or concerns about asbestos, explore our website and YouTube page, featuring infographics, videos, and answers to common questions on asbestos-related topics. |
We’ve also introduced W.A.R.D., the Worldwide Asbestos Research Database. It’s the most comprehensive resource for asbestos-related information.
W.A.R.D. assists in pinpointing potential exposure scenarios, asbestos-containing products, and can indicate the types and potential amounts of compensation you may be entitled to receive.
Don’t delay — get in touch with us today!
1 National Cancer Institute (NIH), Asbestos Fact Sheet.
2 National Cancer Institute (NIH), Asbestos Fact Sheet.