Secondary or Limited Exposure: Getting Sick From Breathing Someone Else’s Asbestos Dust

The asbestos lawyers at Weitz & Luxenberg have helped secure money for clients who have been diagnosed with an asbestos disease because of secondary or limited exposure to asbestos.

Read on for a few examples of such exposure. Then, complete the form on this page for a free review of your potential asbestos case.

My dad worked with asbestos when I was a kid. Now I’m sick and the doctor said it’s because of asbestos.
You may have never seen a bag of asbestos cement, a roll of asbestos insulation or any product labeled as containing asbestos. Now you have been diagnosed with the same disease that made hundreds of thousands of people who worked with asbestos on a daily basis seriously ill.

We handle cases of family secondary exposure. In these cases, a family member worked in a job where they had daily exposure to asbestos. These workers came home every day not knowing their clothes and the inside of their vehicles were covered in dust which contained asbestos that would some day sicken their families.

Those small asbestos dusts and fibers became airborne, and families breathed in asbestos every time they washed work clothes or helped to clean the dust from the car.

I taught 3rd grade for 25 years in a school that was built back in the 1940s. The custodians told us the building was full of asbestos. Now I have lung problems. Is there a connection?
According to The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), elementary school teachers are at risk developing mesothelioma and lung cancer. In fact, elementary school teachers are second to the traditional trades that work with asbestos in the highest risk of developing an asbestos-related disease, with a mortality rate higher than construction workers.

I live near a building where they are remodeling and removing all kinds of asbestos. Will I get sick?
In New York City, a tenants group fought for additional asbestos testing during the renovation of their high rise apartment building.

It helped to bring an important issue into the forefront because even though asbestos has been banned in the construction industry since the late 1970s, the danger of exposure to asbestos dusts still exists.

Virtually every home, office building or apartment building constructed from the 1940s to the early 1970s contained asbestos. When testing is not performed before beginning a remodeling or remediation project, the workers, the building tenants and those who live near the buildings are all at risk to develop an asbestos-related disease.

What Should I Do Next?
Weitz & Luxenberg’s asbestos attorneys have represented several clients in cases of secondary exposure, including a case where a wife was diagnosed with mesothelioma after years of asbestos exposure simply from washing her husband’s work clothes. We were able to secure her a settlement from over 20 defendants for several million dollars.

Please complete the form on this page for a free lawsuit review of your potential case. A representative of our firm will be in touch shortly.