For much of the 20th century, companies widely used asbestos in construction materials and industrial products. Although the workers who manufactured and handled these products often faced the most direct exposure, their family members were also at risk of inhaling asbestos fibers.
Secondary asbestos exposure happens when workers unknowingly carry asbestos dust from the job site into their homes. Something as simple as hugging a parent coming home from work or cleaning a spouse’s work clothes has created a silent health crisis for countless families throughout the United States. Decades after their initial exposure, the spouses and children of workers in high-risk industries are now being diagnosed with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.
Navigate this page
- How Asbestos Fibers Travel From the Workplace Into the Home
- How Secondary Asbestos Exposure Can Lead to Mesothelioma
- How to Trace a Secondhand Exposure Source Decades Later
- Evidence Used to Support a Secondary Asbestos Exposure Claim
- What to Do if Your Family Was Affected by Secondary Asbestos Exposure
- Secondary asbestos exposure can occur when workers carry asbestos fibers home on their clothing, skin, hair, or equipment.
- Spouses, children, and other household members may develop mesothelioma decades after encountering asbestos fibers brought into the home by a worker.
- Many forms of evidence, including employment records and family memories, can help identify the source of secondary exposure.
- The Gori Law Firm can investigate how asbestos entered the patient’s home and help your family pursue compensation for an asbestos-related illness.
How Asbestos Fibers Travel From the Workplace Into the Home
Asbestos fibers are microscopic, lightweight, and sharp. When workers disturbed asbestos-containing materials on the job, these fibers could easily cling to their hair, skin, clothing, or work equipment. Historically, many of these workers left their shifts without showering or changing their clothes. This allowed asbestos fibers to travel home with them.
Once inside the home, the fibers could become airborne again. Removing or shaking out a dusty work shirt, sorting contaminated clothing, loading the washing machine, or even hugging an exposed worker could release asbestos into the surrounding air. Fibers could also settle into carpets or become lodged in upholstered furniture, where ordinary movement, cleaning, or resting could disturb them again.
Women who regularly washed their husbands’ work clothes are among the most common victims of secondary exposure. Individuals who greeted a parent after work or played near contaminated items during childhood also face a risk of asbestos-related diseases.
How Secondary Asbestos Exposure Can Lead to Mesothelioma
Asbestos is an extremely resilient material. Its durability and heat resistance made it highly appealing to manufacturers, but those same properties also make the fibers difficult for the body to remove.
When a person inhales asbestos, the fibers can travel deep into the lungs and remain in the body for years. Some may reach the pleura, the thin lining surrounding the lungs. Others may reach the peritoneum, which lines the abdomen. Over time, the fibers can damage nearby tissues and contribute to abnormal cell growth that may eventually develop into mesothelioma.
Mesothelioma typically takes 20 to 50 years to develop after a person is first exposed to asbestos. By the time symptoms appear, someone exposed through a family member may have no obvious reason to connect their illness to asbestos. If you are experiencing shortness of breath, persistent chest pain, or other possible symptoms of mesothelioma, examining your family’s work history may help uncover a possible source of secondary asbestos exposure.
How to Trace a Secondhand Exposure Source Decades Later
If you or a loved one developed mesothelioma despite never working directly with asbestos, the exposure may trace back to a spouse’s or parent’s former job. To pinpoint how you may have been exposed to asbestos, start by creating a family timeline.
Think back to the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, when asbestos remained common in many workplaces. Identify the years you lived with a family member who may have worked around asbestos, along with their job duties, work locations, and years in a high-risk industry.
Collecting old tax returns, Social Security earnings records, pension documents, and military records can help you reconstruct a relative’s employment history. Pay particular attention to work in industries where companies once used asbestos extensively, including commercial construction, shipbuilding, automotive repair, and industrial manufacturing.
You may also want to consider potential exposure sources closer to home. Renovation projects involving older building materials, brake repairs in the family garage, and time spent in shared military housing may provide important clues.
Using Memories to Fill Gaps in the Exposure Timeline
Documentation may provide only part of the story. Aging relatives and former coworkers may remember details that can fill the gaps in the evidence.
Think back to anyone who may recall where your family member worked and what their job duties were. Ask whether the employer followed asbestos safety practices, such as providing protective equipment, changing rooms, or showers. People who worked with your loved one may also remember specific brands of joint compound, insulation, or automotive parts used on the job.
These memories may be decades old, but they can potentially provide important clues. Investigators can compare these details with historical product records to determine whether the materials contained asbestos and whether the worker encountered them during the years they lived with the patient.
Evidence Used to Support a Secondary Asbestos Exposure Claim
Secondary asbestos exposure claims often rely on forms of evidence that, considered together, may connect a patient’s illness to asbestos brought home from a family member’s workplace.
Medical records and pathology reports can establish a mesothelioma diagnosis. However, the diagnosis alone does not identify when, where, or how asbestos exposure occurred.
Employment records, worksite documents, product records, and industrial hygiene evidence may show that a spouse, parent, or other household member worked with or near asbestos-containing materials. Company policies and inspection reports may also indicate whether the employer provided showers, changing areas, clean uniforms, or safeguards intended to prevent contaminated dust from leaving the workplace.
Witness testimony can further support the exposure history. Former coworkers, relatives, neighbors, or childhood friends may remember the worker returning home covered in dust, wearing contaminated clothing, or bringing tools and equipment into the home. Together, this evidence may help establish a take-home exposure pathway.
What to Do if Your Family Was Affected by Secondary Asbestos Exposure
Because of secondary asbestos exposure, someone may receive a mesothelioma diagnosis despite never having stepped foot inside a factory, shipyard, construction site, or auto garage. These claims are just as valid as occupational asbestos exposure claims, but they can be more challenging to prove.
You do not have to reconstruct decades of family history alone. The Gori Law Firm can conduct a thorough investigation to determine how asbestos may have entered your home and connect the exposure to a modern-day diagnosis. This evidence may then allow us to pursue fair compensation for the losses your family has suffered due to an asbestos-related illness. We’ve recovered over $4 billion in settlements and verdicts for people harmed by asbestos exposure, and we’re prepared to put our track record to work for you.
If you or a loved one developed mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease without an obvious source of exposure, our team is ready to listen to your family’s story and explain your options. Contact us online or call 618-659-9833 for a free case evaluation.