Mesothelioma Cancer

People who are at risk of getting mesothelioma cancer.

Who gets mesothelioma can depend greatly in a number of conditions. Asbestos exposure is not limited to manufacturing work sites. Schools, churches, office buildings, and recreational centers contained significant amounts of asbestos until only a few decades ago. While those who worked in asbestos quarries and manufacturing centers are the most at risk, significant amounts of unrelated people were indirectly endangered. Furthermore, asbestos contamination affected many occupations not directly involved in the asbestos production or construction industries.

Military war veterans – Navy personnel in particular - are at risk of developing mesothelioma because they were exposed to significant levels of asbestos in shipbuilding, insulation, and fire retardant materials on ship and at base. Military necessity outweighed health concerns, and thousands of innocent people and their families are now paying the price for this oversight. Even though veterans of the military cannot sue the government because of asbestos-related diseases, there are other ways to take action against those responsible. Furthermore, civilian military workers are also covered by the provisions of many special mesothelioma legal actions.

Workers are the people at most risk of developing mesothelioma, because they worked directly or indirectly with the deadly materials. There are dozens of at risk jobs, but some are more dangerous than others. These include:

• Automotive mechanics
• Boiler makers
• Bricklayers
• Building Inspectors
• Carpenters
• Electricians
• Insulators
• Iron workers
• Laborers
• Longshoremen
• Maintenance workers
• Merchant marines
• Millwrights
• Painters
• Plasterers
• Plumbers
• Roofers
• Sheet metal workers
• Tile setters
• Welders

Perhaps the most tragic aspect of mesothelioma is the innocent family members of workers that had no direct exposure to the material but suffer from the disease nonetheless. Workers who dealt with this deadly material often carried microscopic asbestos fibers home with them in their clothes and hair, which caused secondary exposure to their families and friends. Over time, these innocent victims can develop mesothelioma, asbestosis, and other fatal conditions.

There are other people that get mesothelioma besides other workers and their family members. Because asbestos was used in thousands of different industries in thousands of different locations, people with no exposure to asbestos in the workplace are now suffering from this disease. Asbestos insulation in churches, schools, recreation centers, and shopping centers can be responsible for a mesothelioma, asbestosis, or lung cancers.