TYPES OF ASBESTOS

Exposure to all Types of Asbestos Can Lead to Serious Health Consequences Many Decades After Exposure

Asbestos was used in many types of building materials and is known to cause fatal diseases, including mesothelioma cancer, asbestos lung cancer and asbestosis.

If your family is facing a loved one’s diagnosis with an asbestos-related disease, you can obtain important information about your legal rights to financial compensation by completing the form on this page.

Asbestos is a naturally-occurring mineral found worldwide. There are six types of asbestos minerals: chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, anthophyllite asbestos, tremolite asbestos and actinolite asbestos.

Despite the dangers associated with asbestos, it was still mined in several areas of the United States. Even though a number of federal and international health agencies have classified asbestos as a carcinogen (cancer causing substance), those that lived or worked in the areas where asbestos was mined face a lifelong risk of developing serious diseases.

Asbestos Materials Used in the Building Industry
Until the 1970s, hundreds of asbestos-containing materials (ACM) were used in the construction of office buildings, schools, apartment buildings and private residential homes.

Asbestos was added to building insulation found in boiler rooms, and as covering for heating, steam and water pipes throughout these buildings. Asbestos was also added to bricks, mortar, stucco, plasters, cements, texture paints and vinyl exterior siding and interior wallpapers.

Asbestos was also added to the materials that make roofing shingles and roof underlay sheets and acoustic ceiling tiles, as well as in floor leveling compounds vinyl floor coverings. Tiles installed in the floors, walls and backsplashes in kitchens, bathrooms, locker rooms and gyms were routinely applied with asbestos-containing glues and mastics.

Asbestos Insulation Used in Other Industries
In addition to the building and construction industries, asbestos insulation materials were commonly used on U.S. Navy ships to insulate pipes throughout the ship, including pipes found in crew quarters. Asbestos was also used in engine and boiler rooms, where Navy snipes often had to sweep out asbestos dusts and help to apply asbestos mud in the engine room.

In addition, asbestos is still used to insulate car, truck and rail engine brakes and clutches, causing commercial, vehicle and home mechanics to face potential exposure to the dangerous mineral.

How Weitz & Luxenberg Can Help
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, we may be able to help you to seek justice for your illness and file a lawsuit on your behalf.

Please complete the form on this page for a free and confidential review of your potential asbestos lawsuit or request a free copy of our asbestos sourcebook. A Weitz & Luxenberg representative will contact you as soon as possible.