A recent study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine has noted the disastrous consequences of asbestos exposure on the American workforce. The research, conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, discovered that between 1999 and 2010, more than 427,000 years of productive life were lost due to early deaths from mesothelioma and asbestosis.
The research shows that asbestos is still a significant workplace hazard and is responsible not only for thousands of lost lives, but also for hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost worker productivity. Though many people may believe that asbestos injuries are on the decline, the fact is that the former popularity of asbestos in building and industrial products means that workers in construction or industrial industries remain at serious risk of developing diseases due to asbestos exposure.
Beyond the huge financial cost of asbestos-related diseases, researchers with the NIOSH found that there was little change in the number of years lost due to these disease between 1999 and 2010. This surprised researchers who expected strict government safety regulations regarding the handling of asbestos to result in declines in the impact of the disease as time went on. Even with these strict standards the reality is that there is no safe level of exposure to any types of asbestos fiber.
Mesothelioma and asbestosis are the two most common diseases caused by exposure to asbestos. Mesothelioma is an incredibly aggressive cancer that begins in the internal body membranes and spreads rapidly. The disease is unusually resistant to standard treatments and each year is responsible for an estimated 2,500 deaths.
Other research has shown that even exposure to asbestos for a few days is enough to cause mesothelioma decades down the road; meaning workers across a variety of industries could have been unknowingly exposed to danger. To increase your awareness of the dangers of asbestos and mesothelioma, considering reading the following article. This report discusses how mesothelioma can impact an array of industrial workers, especially those in the railroad industry. The article was drafted by one of my firm’s experienced mesothelioma attorneys and contains important information relating to a deadly health condition.
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