Hazardous Jobs
Exposure to asbestos fibers causes
mesothelioma cancer.
Mesothelioma can result from very small fibers or dust particles at low exposure levels. Most such exposure would likely have occurred prior to 1973, but the latency period can be up to 40 years for most
mesothelioma lung cancer to develop.
Many people have come into contact with asbestos fibers via their jobs, or occupational exposure. There is also a risk to the family members of those working in at-risk occupations; this exposure is called paraoccupational exposure. Likewise, people who live near sites likely to have asbestos around the facility are also at risk: refineries, power plants, factories, shipyards, steel mills and building demolition are types of work sites that can release asbestos fibers into the environment and contaminate nearby residential neighborhoods.
Trades:
- Asbestos product manufacturing (insulation, roofing, building, materials)
- Automotive repair (brakes & clutches)
- Construction/contractors
- Maritime
- Miners
- Offshore rust removals
- Oil refineries
- Power plants
- Railroads
- Sand or abrasive manufacturers
- Shipyards / ships / ship builders
- Steel mills
- Tile cutters
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Occupations:
- Auto Mechanics
- Boiler makers
- Bricklayers
- Building Inspectors
- Carpenters
- Drywallers
- Electricians
- Floor Coverings
- Furnace Workers
- Glazers
- Grinders
- Hod carriers
- Insulators
- Iron workers
- Laborers
- Longshoremen
- Maintenance workers
- Merchant marines
- Millwrights
- Operating Engineers
- Painters
- Plasterers
- Plumbers
- Roofers
- Sand blasters
- Sheet metal workers
- Steam fitters
- Tile setters
- Welders
- U.S. Navy veterans
- Welders
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Many occupations have an increased risk for developing 
