Hazardous
Careers - Factory Laborers @ Risk of Asbestos Exposure - Asbestos
Used in 3000 Consumer Products, Factory Buildings with Asbestos
Containing Products, Case Study of Kent Cigarettes Using Asbestos
in Micronite Filters
(November 10th, 2008)
 Factory
laborers represent a broad group of American workers totalling 11%
of the country's workforce that do various jobs such as front assembly
line (in automotive plants), packaging lines (in clothing factories),
loading and unloading raw materials and finished products, pack
raw materials & package them into boxes, operate automatic and
semi-automatic machinery and tools e.g conveyor belts, clean factory
machinery and general working space, as well as other duties. Thousands
of American factory workers may have been exposed to Asbestos on
the job before the 1980s, and not aware of this. There is a slight
chance even today that factory workers may be exposed to Asbestos
fibers on the job, although Asbestos products were banned from industrial
& commercial use in the early 1980s by the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
 Before
the early 1980s, Asbestos was used in over 3000 commercial &
consumer products ranging from baby powders, cigarette filters,
duct tapes, fire curtains, machine room ducts, roofing felts, turbines
to welding blankets. Any laborer who worked in a factory that produced
any asbestos containing products has a sure chance of being exposed
to Asbestos fibers that dissipitate into the envinronment. However,
all cases of asbestos exposure are not easy to detect or prove.
For example, a cement factory worker opening a big bag full of asbestos
containing cement sure knows he was exposed to Asbestos, while a
welder wearing a protective mask working on a welding rod may not.
Another example is sewing machine workers who had no idea they were
being exposed to Asbestos fibers when bending over their sewing
machines and making oven mitts.
Factory workers may also be exposed to Asbestos fibers thanks to
the machinery they used on their jobs. Because of its resistance
to heat & fire and its insulating properties, asbestos was used
as a packaging item for ball bearings and other friction bearing
parts. As friction rubbed against those parts, small asbestos dust
or fibers quickly dissipitated into the factory environment putting
all workers at risk of inhaling them. Other machines that used asbestos
as moving parts & packing agents include assembly line machinery,
industrial fans, packing equipment, machine room ducts & ceilings,
boiler insulators, turbines, etc. Laborers who maintained the machinery
in the factory were at even greater risk of inhaling asbestos fibers
due to cleaning, changing parts & maintaining parts of machinery
that was built with asbestos for insulation & to insulate these
machinery from heat & fires. Laborers responsible for maintaining
factory machinery could have inhaled asbestos fibers when for example
replacing bearings or friction bearing parts, ground pistons, etc.
Similarly, auto mechanics who open brake compartments to replace
pads & linings could also inhale asbestos fibers.
 Many
factory buildings that were built prior to the 1980s were constructed
with asbestos containing products because of their insulating properties
as well as resistance to heat & fire. Consequently, those workers
who maintain & clean these buildings are also at great risk
of asbestos exposure. If you have worked in a factory that has not
had comprehensive asbestos abatement or removal service done prior
to the 1980s, chances are you have been exposed to asbestos fibers
in that environment.
Some common work areas where asbestos containing products, and
thus asbestos fibers in the air can be found are:
- asbestos aprons & papers
- beverage filters
- cigarette filters
- electrical appliances
- fire bricks
- fireproof hearth & oven mats
- fireproof safety clothing
- hair dryers
- oven mitts
- potholders
- siding shingles
- stove mats
- trivets
Case Study - Asbestos in Cigarette Filters
 Because
of its resistance to heat, insolubility, & its insulation capabilities,
asbestos was commonly used in cigarette filters before the 1980s.
For instance in the early 1950s, the Kent brand cigarettes used
crocidolite asbestos as part of their Micronite filters. Also called
'blue asbestos', crocidolite asbestos is a form of asbestos that
is used for fireproofing & insulation. Infact, between 1952
and 1956, the Kent company produced about 12 billion Kent cigarettes,
with asbestos in the Micronite filters. The company believed asbestos
will help its cigarettes remove the filter's tars and nicotine.
The asbestos used could be spun into extremely thin & fine fibers
that could easily trap dangerous smoke particles such as tars &
nicotine, in sizes smaller than a micron. The Kent company did not
realize however that the tiny asbestos fibers broke loose from the
micronite filters and were sucked into their lungs by smokers of
Kent's cigarettes.
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