Toxic Torts

Toxic Torts: Toxic torts is the area of law that deals with injuries caused by exposure to toxic and other dangerous substances, forms of energy, and devices, including asbestos, chemicals and cosmetics, hazardous waste, medical products and devices, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, radiation and electromagnetic energy, and tobacco.

Toxic torts are distinguished from other torts in the respect that they are personal injuries sustained by one or more individuals exposed to toxic or dangerous substances, chemicals, dangerous forms of energy, and medical products or devices.

Toxic tort litigation is the act of a plaintiff suing the negligent party for damages, typically the manufacturer of the dangerous product or a company that handles the product in a negligent manner.

Following is a list of items that have been associated with toxic tort claims.

If you, or a loved one, have been injured by any of these toxic substances, or any other not listed, please immediately contact a personal injury attorney to protect your legal rights.

Asbestos: Asbestos was once a common component in many types of construction products, industrial products and in the automotive industry. When asbestos is in tact, it does not pose a health problem. However, when the material deteriorates or is exposed to the air through a variety of mechanisms such as the demolition of buildings where asbestos was contained in the insulation or mechanics working on automotive brakes or transmissions, debilitating diseases can occur.

These diseases are caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibers in the air. The most prevalent and devastating of these diseases is mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a type of lung cancer peculiar to asbestos exposure that is extremely devastating and ultimately terminal. Mesothelioma, like other asbestos causing diseases, can take a long time to develop, sometimes up to 15 years. A less deadly disease associated with asbestos inhalation is asbestosis. This is where the lung tissues become scarred and thus breathing becomes difficult.

Many former uses of asbestos, such as flooring felt, roll board, and corrugated, commercial, and specialty paper, and all new uses of asbestos in the U.S. have been banned. However, more than 1.3 million employees in the construction industry face significant exposure to asbestos on the job daily yet today.

Construction workers face heavy exposure to asbestos especially during the removal of asbestos during renovations or demolitions. Employees working in areas of manufacturing of asbestos such as textiles, friction products, insulation, and other building materials, are also likely to be exposed, as are employees working on automotive brake and clutch repair work.

If you, or a loved one, is suffering from lung cancer, asbestosis, mesothelioma or other asbestos related diseases caused by exposure to asbestos or asbestos containing products, please contact a personal injury attorney immediately to protect your rights.

Lead: In 1978, the hazardous substance lead was banned from house paint in the United States. In 1991 food canners quit using lead in the soldering process. And a 25-year phase out of lead in gasoline reached its goal in 1995.

As a result of such efforts, the number of young children with potentially harmful blood lead levels has dropped 85 percent in the last 20 years, as shown in National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.

However, in 1997, FDA approved a new, portable blood lead screening test kit for health professionals to use. This proves that, despite the success we have had minimizing the exposure of lead, there still is a problem.

Exposure to lead comes from several sources, primarily the paint used in housing, leaded gasoline, and lead-contaminated drinking water. Of these sources, lead paint and lead paint dust are the most common. Lead paint dust is actually more dangerous than lead paint chips because smaller particles of lead are more easily absorbed.

Thus, scraping lead paint from the walls of old buildings is very dangerous to anyone living in the building or passing by. For this reason, special precautions must take place prior to working on old buildings that contain lead based paints including evacuation, breathing masks and lead dust trapping ventilation equipment.

Despite a worldwide movement to ban the use of lead in paint, paint manufacturers and the lead industry funded a massive effort in the United States to delay any sort of legislation regarding lead. By 1971 it was estimated that two hundred children a year died from lead poisoning.

In 1971, Congress finally took action by passing the Lead Based Poisoning Prevention Act restricting residential use of lead paint and banning its use on toys and children's furniture. Unfortunately, marine paint, farm equipment paint, automobile paints and industrial finishes are not covered by this Act and continued to contain lead.

It is estimated that 1 out of every 10 preschoolers suffer from some form of lead poisoning. Children are at greater risk than adults for lead poisoning because their bodies absorb up to 50% of the lead they ingest while adults retain only 10%.

Children age seven and younger are in a special risk group due to developmental difficulties associated with lead exposure. Even low levels of lead can block an infant's mental development. Lead exposure is linked with reduced intelligence, learning disabilities, low graduation rates, and criminal behavior.

If you have a child that ha been exposed to lead and has subsequently been diagnosed with impaired mental development, please contact a personal injury attorney immediately to protect your legal rights.

Welding Rods: Welding is an inherently dangerous task, however, recently a new danger has been detected concerning welding. The rods used in welding contain the element manganese.

Manganese is a naturally occurring substance that is used in the manufacture of numerous products as well as in tools used for welding, including welding rods, and in the rooms where welding is commonly performed.

When the welder engages these rods in the welding process, manganese fumes are released into the air. The welder inadvertently and unavoidably inhales this magnesium fume and serious health consequences occur.

Manganism is a serious condition often misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease. Poor balance, tremors, slowed movement and other symptoms of Parkinson's disease begin to develop. These symptoms don't respond to the typically treatment of Parkinson's patients, namely levodopa.

Manganism was once believed to be relatively uncommon, but according to some recent data, as many as one in eight welders have manganism. Pipe fitters, railroad workers, miners, steel workers, and pesticide workers also face increased risk. Manganism can be fatal. If you, or a loved one, have been exposed to manganese or have shown symptoms of manganism, please see a personal injury attorney immediately in order to protect your legal rights.