Textile mill workers faced high risks of amianto exposure on the job. Textile mills contained amianto in machinery and often made textiles embedded with amianto. Former textile workers are now at greater risk of developing mesotelioma, and many have filed lawsuits to seek damages.
Si usted sufre de mesotelioma, asbestosis, o asbestos-related cancer, usted puede ser elegible para una gran cantidad de compensación. Currently, there is over $30 billion in amianto trust funds set up for those who have been diagnosed with an amianto-related illness. Fill out our form to get a free Financial Compensación Packet. You’ll learn about the experienced mesotelioma lawyers in your area, how to get paid in 90 days, how to file a claim for the amianto trust funds, and more.
Paquete de compensación financiera GRATUITO
- Información sobre despachos de abogados que recuperarán su INDEMNIZACIÓN MÁS ALTA
- Aprenda cómo cobrar en 90 días
- Solicite su parte de $30 mil millones en fondos fiduciarios
Did Textile Mills Use Asbestos?
Like most industrial workplaces, textile mills have used amianto in machinery, equipment, and building materials for decades. Many textile mills also used amianto to manufacture products. Amianto textiles were made for a variety of industries.
Textile mills today no longer use amianto in equipment or processes. Most of the risk of amianto exposure was in the past. However, current textile fábrica workers could still be exposed to amianto through older materials.
What Do Textile Workers Do?
Textile workers generally work in the manufacturing mill, making textiles using raw materials, wool, cotton, and polyester.
Textile workers have a variety of different job functions, which may include:
- Setting up, operating, maintaining, and running textile machines
- Repairing machinery
- Bleaching and dyeing textiles and operating bleaching equipment
- Testing and inspecting materials
- Supervising and managing production lines
- General maintenance and cleanup
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), textile mill workers usually work in three different areas of the textile industry: apparel manufacturing, textile production mills, or textile mills.
How Were Textile Workers Exposed to Asbestos?
Throughout the 1940s until the late 1970s, many products produced in textile mills were made with amianto y amianto-containing materials (ACMs). Additionally, textile mills used amianto in equipment and machinery used to make products.
This placed textile workers at a heightened risk of inhaling and ingesting amianto, leading to the threat of developing toxic illnesses such as malignant mesotelioma, asbestosis, and cáncer de pulmón relacionado con el amianto.
Workers with the highest risks of exposure handled amianto to make amianto textiles. Handling raw amianto causes fibers to be released into the air, where workers can inhale them. Other workers in the area were also at risk of exposure.
Even in mills that did not use raw fibras de amianto to make textiles, workers faced exposure from equipment. Amianto parts often released fibers due to natural deterioration and friction and when workers made repairs or performed maintenance tasks.
A pesar de today’s textile manufacturing centers do not use amianto as much as they once did, the sheer amount of people who were once exposed to amianto while working in textile mills is astounding.
Asbestos Products Used in the Textile Industry
The most obvious source of amianto in textile mills that exposed workers was raw amianto. This was used in mills that manufactured amianto textiles. Some of the types of amianto products workers made in textile mills include:
- Fire curtains
- Roofing felt
- Fireproof clothing
- Asbestos aprons
- Potholders and oven mitts
- Welding blankets
- Asbestos rope
Many other products in textile mills contained amianto, including those that made amianto products and those that did not:
- Aislamiento
- Revestimiento de tuberías
- Boilers and furnaces
- Juntas
- válvulas
- Machinery brakes and other friction parts
The Risk of Asbestos Illnesses in Textile Workers
Scientific studies have been carried out on textile workers and amianto, confirming that these workers are at a heightened risk of developing amianto diseases.
- A study published by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) studied people who worked in four textile plants in North Carolina and chrysotile asbestos from January 1950 until December 1973. Of the 5,770 workers included in the study, 277 people died from some form of lung cancer, including pleural mesothelioma, a disease directly linked to asbestos exposure. Those who developed asbestos illnesses were exposed more significantly to asbestos than others.
- Another study was a follow-up of a previous study that found an increased risk for both pleural y mesotelioma peritoneal in textile workers. Not many studies have investigated the connection between textile work and peritoneal mesothelioma, a rarer, abdominal form of mesothelioma. This study found that the risk of developing persisted, even years after workers were no longer exposed to asbestos.
A study published in 2018 followed cases of mesotelioma diagnosed in women and men from 1993 to 2012. The researchers found that many of the women with mesotelioma worked in chemical and plastic factories. ut, the highest rates of mesotelioma among women in the study were among those who worked in textile factories.
Manufacturers That Supplied Asbestos to Textile Mills
In the past, manufacturers supplied amianto-containing products to textile mills. If a textile worker develops an amianto illness, the manufacturers that supplied the products could be liable for damages.
The most notable manufacturers include:
- Du Pont De Nemours and Company, Inc.
- Southern Textile Corp.
- Raymark Industries
- Johns Manville
- Southern Asbestos Company
- Regal Textile
- H.K. Porter Co.
- Coats & Clark Thread Company
What to Do if You Worked in a Textile Mill
Past textile workers are at an increased risk for amianto illnesses. f this includes you, talk to your doctor about your risk for mesotelioma and other illnesses. An early diagnosis gives you more treatment options and a better outcome.
The next step is to contact a mesothelioma lawyer to determine your options for seeking compensación. You could be eligible to presentar una demanda against amianto suppliers or to file a claim with an fondo fiduciario para el amianto. Your lawyer can review your work history and find all possible avenues for recovering damages.
Additional Resources and Assistance for Textile Workers
Don’t forget to fill out our form for our free Financial Compensación Packet, filled with information on the experienced amianto y mesotelioma attorneys in your area. You may be entitled to damages for pain, suffering, medical expenses, lost wages, and more. Para obtener ayuda adicional, contáctenos en 800-793-4540.
