Asbestos was commonly used in many trades and occupational settings during the twentieth century. Asbestos insulated steam pipes, boilers and turbines. Gaskets and valves contained asbestos. Asbestos was incorporated into building products such as floor tiles, joint compounds and roofing cement. It was woven into blankets, used in gloves and even in glue.
Certain types of trades experienced very high levels of asbestos exposure. For example, insulators and pipefitters have long been known to be at extremely high risk for developing asbestos-related diseases. Members of the military, workers in the construction trades, such as carpenters, painters and electricians, and many workers in chemical and manufacturing facilities, like the steel mills of Pennsylvania, also experienced occupational asbestos exposure. Shipyard workers, many concentrated along the coast of California, were also exposed to asbestos as ships were built, serviced and overhauled.
Not only people working directly with asbestos products were exposed to the asbestos fibers. When asbestos fibers are released into the air, they can be breathed in by people working nearby. For example, some nurses and teachers have gotten sick because they worked in buildings where asbestos was in the air.
On this site, you will find information about certain job sites that have been identified as places where workers were exposed to significant amounts of asbestos. Inhaling asbestos fibers can place you at increased risk of developing mesothelioma (a rare cancer that attacks the lining of the lungs, abdomen or heart), lung cancer and other asbestos-related diseases. If you worked at one of the job sites you see here, you may have experienced substantial asbestos exposure. This information is not a complete listing of job sites where workers were exposed to asbestos, however. It is important to investigate and understand your own work and exposure history.
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