Types of Companies with Asbestos Exposure

Aerospace
Table of Contents
- 1 Aerospace
- 2 Automotive Factories
- 3 Chemical Plants
- 4 Construction Sites Other Jobsites
- 5 Electronics Fabrication Plants
- 6 Food Processing Plants
- 7 Glass Plants
- 8 Manufacturing Plants
- 8.1 Manufacturing Plants in New York State With Asbestos Exposures
- 8.2 Albany Felt Company
- 8.3 ALCO
- 8.4 American Standard
- 8.5 Armstrong World Industries
- 8.6 Auburn Plastics
- 8.7 Bausch & Lomb
- 8.8 Blue Circle Cement
- 8.9 Carborundum Company
- 8.10 Carrier Corporation
- 8.11 Chicago Pneumatic
- 8.12 Dresser-Rand
- 8.13 Dunkirk Radiator Corporation
- 8.14 DuPont
- 8.15 Foster Wheeler
- 8.16 Ingersoll Rand
- 8.17 Owens Corning Delmar Plant
- 9 Metal Smelting Plants
- 10 Paper Companies
- 11 Pharmaceutical Plants
- 12 Power Plants
- 13 Shipyards
- 14 Textile Mills
The advent of the aerospace industry created jobs during the twentieth century. Responsible for the design and production of aircraft, missiles, rockets, and spacecraft, over a million Americans were employed by aerospace companies at the industry’s height during the 1980s.
Unfortunately for these workers, aerospace factories typically used asbestos materials and equipment prior to the 1990s.
This included brakes, hoses, engines, and insulation material for planes. The planes had asbestos-containing pumps, valves, boilers, and other equipment.
The companies that sold these asbestos products to aerospace factories knew that asbestos posed serious health risks to factory workers.
Despite this, the asbestos companies did not warn workers of these dangers.
Many retired workers from the aerospace industry have developed mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer that most often forms on the lining of the lungs.
Automotive Factories
For over a century, the automotive industry has been a vital source of employment for the American workforce.
Although the industry is most closely associated with Detroit, Michigan, automotive assembly plants existed in many other states. Prior to the 1990s, these factories used a great deal of asbestos equipment and materials.
Auto plants had asbestos-containing pumps, valves, turbines, boilers, and other equipment. Automobile brakes, gaskets, and clutches also had asbestos.
Chevrolet
Plant closed 2007
Buffalo, NY
Chemical Plants
Chemical manufacturing in the United States employs over a million Americans. Responsible for such diverse products as plastics, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, and flavorings, chemical production is a major American industry.
Although people have been producing and refining chemicals for thousands of years, the industry’s modern form emerged around the turn of the 20thcentury, spurred by a number of innovations made in the production of chemical dyes, plant fertilizers, sulfuric acid, and caustic soda.
Large factories were erected to manufacture these and other chemicals in bulk, and many American workers were hired to fulfill the labor needs of the industry.
Prior to the 1990s, chemical factories and plants used equipment and materials made from asbestos in a variety of applications. Asbestos-containing equipment included pumps, valves, turbines, boilers, and other equipment. Chemical factories also used asbestos lab and filtering equipment. Plastic factories used asbestos molding compounds.
Dupont
2551 Buffalo Ave
Niagara Falls, NY 14303
Hercules / Ciba Geigy
89 Lower Warren Street and Quaker Road
Glens Falls, NY 12801
Schenectady Chemical
1302 Congress Street
Schenectady, NY
Construction Sites Other Jobsites
Nearly six million American workers are employed by the construction industry – one of the industries involved with the Asbestos issue. During the bulk of the 20th century, asbestos could often be found in construction equipment, as well as materials such as gaskets, ceiling and floor tile, joint compound, caulking, and shingles.
Asbestos, a fibrous mineral that was commonly used as a construction and building material prior to the 1990s, is the sole known cause of mesothelioma – an aggressive cancer most often forming in the lining of the lungs.
During construction projects, asbestos materials needed to be cut, ground, installed, and occasionally demolished. Any of these actions would release and agitate a great deal of asbestos dust, contaminating the air at the site with millions of harmful asbestos fibers. These asbestos materials would also wear down over time, due to natural degradation, repair, and maintenance, producing even more asbestos dust.
The millions of construction workers who inhaled these fibers are at a high risk of developing mesothelioma.
Construction workers were never told of these dangers by the asbestos industry. The asbestos industry had been aware of the health hazards of asbestos since the 1920s, but did not warn workers. Because of this, and because mesothelioma is only known to be caused by asbestos, construction workers who develop mesothelioma have the right to seek compensation for their illness.
It is important, however, to seek out experienced mesothelioma attorneys when pursuing an asbestos lawsuit.
Electronics Fabrication Plants
Many Americans have been employed at electronics plants that build circuit boards, radios, televisions, and computer equipment. These sites put workers at a high risk of developing mesothelioma due to the asbestos equipment that was used extensively at these production facilities, including pumps, valves, insulation, boilers, and turbines.