Cabinetmakers

People working in the construction trades are at the top of the list of those who have the highest risk of developing mesothelioma or another asbestos-related diseases. We seldom think of cabinetmakers when considering those who work in the construction trades, but woodworkers and artisans who create furniture and cabinetry are among those who are likely to be exposed to asbestos in the workplace.

Cabinetmakers plan and create fine furniture and cabinetry from wood. At one time, many of the products that they used in construction of production homes were made with asbestos. Many manufacturers of wood products had lines of pressed wood or board containing asbestos that were often used in building cabinets and built-in shelving in homes built during the 1930s through the 1970s. They would have been at risk of inhaling airborne asbestos fibers when sawing, cutting, drilling and hammering wood products containing asbestos, as well as in drilling and hammering to screw cabinets into walls that were made with asbestos-containing wallboard, plaster and other wall surfaces.

Asbestos is a mineral that is highly fire resistant and has excellent insulating properties. It can be broken and crushed into fine fibers that can be woven into fabric or combined with many other substances and ingredients to impart its properties to the new material. From the early 1900s through about 1980, asbestos was used in over 3,000 consumer products, including thousands of products used in home construction. Asbestos was used in floor tiles and ceiling acoustical tiles, in paints and fireproofing treatments, in siding and roofing shingles, in mastics and adhesives, and in a product that was used almost pervasively in home building - joint compound.

Cabinetmakers often worked in homes under construction while other construction workers were also doing their work. Because asbestos is so lightweight, it hangs in the air and easily drifts on air currents from one workplace in the home to another. That meant that they were often exposed to airborne asbestos from others in the work crew who may have been sanding down asbestos-containing joint compound on wallboard, or cutting wallboard or otherwise working with materials in ways that created large amounts of asbestos dust.

Cabinetmakers continue to be at risk of asbestos exposure today through a number of different avenues. Often, woodworkers and cabinet framers are involved in renovation and repair of older homes that were built with asbestos containing materials. Those materials are often in poor repair, and can release asbestos fibers into the air, causing a health hazard. They may work on older cabinets and shelving that was made with compressed wood products mixed with asbestos, releasing asbestos fibers when the wood is drilled, hammered, sanded or otherwise damaged.

When asbestos fibers are inhaled, they can lodge in the lungs and other soft tissues in the body and remain there for decades before symptoms become obvious. The most common illnesses related to asbestos are respiratory, and include lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer that destroys the outer lining between the lungs and the chest wall. Mesothelioma may also affect the tissue lining the heart's chamber and the lining of the abdominal cavity. Malignant mesothelioma has only one known cause - asbestos fibers.

There is a very long latency period between exposure to asbestos and the onset of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. It can be as long as thirty or forty years after exposure to asbestos fibers before a person exhibits symptoms that are worrisome enough to bring them to a doctor. By that time the cancer has often reached terminal stages. Mesothelioma has no known cure and very few treatments that are at all effective.

The long latency period made it easy for the manufacturers of asbestos-laced products to cover up the dangers of asbestos. For decades, the companies that sold and distributed products containing asbestos knew that those products caused serious and deadly illnesses among those who were exposed to asbestos, but they did nothing to warn or protect their workers. Instead, they hid the facts, even going so far as having workers examined by their own doctors and falsifying medical reports to reflect no problems.

Because of the history of conspiracy and silence surrounding the dangers of asbestos, the courts have held many companies that manufactured, distributed and used asbestos-containing products liable for damages to their workers. Juries have awarded multimillion dollar settlements to employees and consumers who developed mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos in these products.

However, the long latency period also can make it difficult to determine the source of exposure in a particular case of mesothelioma or asbestosis. Lawyers who have extensive experience researching and compiling lawsuits against the companies that exposed their workers to the deadly hazards of asbestos often can trace specific products and exposures based on work history of cabinetmakers, construction workers, steelworkers and others who were exposed to asbestos. If you or someone you know worked as a cabinetmaker and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, an experienced mesothelioma lawyer can help you find out how you were exposed to asbestos, and inform you about your options for compensation for your injury.

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