Asbestos and the law
From ArticleWorld
Asbestos and the law refers to the significant number of legal issues surrounding its use, its ability to be manufactured and to who carries the responsibility of paying for those who have become sickened or killed by the substance.
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History
Asbestos was recognized as a potential health hazard in the late 1800s. In spite of that, a number of industrial products were made of the substance, including building insulation, fire-proof tiles, pipe and electrical insulation. In the early 1970s, asbestos was listed as one of the first regulated air pollutants. The banning of the use of certain types of asbestos began in the mid-1980s. All asbestos was to be banned in the European Union by 2005. Currently, Canada, one of the world’s largest producers of asbestos, sends 97% of its product to Asia.
Corporate issues
The ban on asbestos put many companies out of business and in the U.S., many of these companies filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. In addition, companies that did not directly use asbestos in their industrial production were required to clean up the workplace of items containing asbestos, particularly public places and schools. This continues to be a costly operation.
Disease states and the law
A number of diseases have been found to be directly related to asbestos exposure; however, it takes between 20 and 40 years for some of the asbestos-related diseases to become obvious, making litigation difficult. Diseases like asbestosis (a type of lung fibrosis) and mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lung or abdomen) are nearly always related to asbestos exposure. Other kinds of lung cancer may or may not be related to asbestos exposure.
Litigation types
The majority of litigation around asbestos-related diseases is related to lawsuits on behalf of workers in the construction or manufacturing industry who were exposed to asbestos while working with the substance over long periods without adequate protection. This has resulted in the folding of some companies who survived the ban on asbestos but lost money and resources during the losses of legal cases in which asbestos was believed to be the cause of disease.
Other legal cases involve individuals who developed complications as a result of working in a building where asbestos was used as part of tiling or insulation. There are fewer of these cases and they are harder to win unless one has mesothelioma or documented asbestosis.