Richmond, Virginia City Office Workers at Risk: Asbestos Exposure at Public Safety Building

Richmond, Virginia CBS affiliate reports on asbestos contamination problems at city offices and whether City employees working in the building may be at risk for exposure and the possibility they will develop serious illnesses such as mesothelioma cancer, asbestos-related lung cancer or asbestosis.

On October 26, 2009, Richmond’s WTVR reported on asbestos contamination at the Richmond Public Safety Building.

At issue is a problem which first came to light in 2002 when local judges complained about the presence of the dangerous carcinogen and other problems at the aging Public Safety Building. At the time, the Richmond City Council agreed to fix the problems at the building, and asbestos was removed from the second floor.

However, asbestos is still present in the building, leading to concerns that other city employees have been exposed and the possibility that other city officer employees being relocated to the building will also be placed at risk for asbestos disease.

Asbestos Disease Risks for Those Working in Older Office Buildings
Many people falsely believe that construction workers and others that worked with or near asbestos materials are at risk for exposure and the asbestos diseases that affect the lives of thousands of Americans each year.

Unfortunately, countless Americans are unknowingly exposed to asbestos in other industries, and statistics from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reflect a disturbing fact about asbestos disease.

While the job classifications for those at highest risk for asbestos disease are indeed workers in the construction and energy industries, the next highest rate of asbestos disease is found in elementary school teachers.

Like school teachers, government office workers share many of the same on-the-job exposure problems, as many government employees may spend their entire careers working in the same older office building. Like the elementary school teacher who spends their entire professional career in the same school building, government workers are also likely to devote their careers to government service, spending decades working in buildings that may have been constructed 60 or more years ago.

Many of these older school and office buildings are heated by a steam, and asbestos-covered pipes run throughout the hallways, stairwells and other areas in the buildings. Asbestos was also typically used in vinyl or linoleum floor tiles, and to insulate water pipes in the restrooms and cafeterias.

Asbestos Disease Diagnosed Many Decades Later
When microscopic asbestos fibers are inhaled, they are not expelled from the lungs like pollen, dust, or other irritants we breathe in. Instead, these fibers attach to lung tissue, where they remain for decades before they cause changes in the lungs that lead to disease. The asbestos fibers can cause scarring of lung tissue (which can cause chronic problems like pleural plaques disease) or cause the lungs to produce abnormal cells (which can cause lung cancer tumors to develop).

Because this latency period (the time between exposure and when symptoms of illness are first detected) can be 30-40 years or more, office workers first exposed during early adulthood my not develop symptoms until they are at retirement age.

How Weitz & Luxenberg Can Help
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, contact our lawyers today for a free review of your case. A Weitz & Luxenberg representative will contact you as soon as possible.