Asbestos Exposure by Industry

Asbestos wasn't just a hazard for the workers who handled it directly. It was woven into the infrastructure of entire industries.

From shipyards to steel mills, refineries to railroads, asbestos became standard equipment. It insulated the pipes, lined the boilers, fireproofed the walls, and protected the wiring. By the mid-20th century, walking into many industrial facilities meant breathing air contaminated with asbestos fibers, regardless of whether you were an insulation worker, a supervisor, a security guard, or even someone from the front office checking on a delivery.

That's why the industry you worked in often matters as much as the specific job you held. If the facility was saturated with asbestos, everyone inside was exposed.

Clarence Borel understood this. He spent 33 years as a pipefitter in Gulf Coast petrochemical plants where asbestos insulation covered every pipe, valve, and vessel. Every time he cut, stripped, or mixed asbestos materials, he released microscopic fibers into the air. Those fibers didn't stay where he was working. Asbestos particles are so small and light that they remain suspended in the air for hours, drifting through facilities on air currents and settling on surfaces far from where they were disturbed. The process operator down the hall, the engineer checking gauges in the control room, and the secretary walking through the plant all breathed the same contaminated air.

When Borel sued the manufacturers who had hidden the dangers of their products, he opened the door for every industrial worker who followed—not just the pipefitters and insulators, but everyone who worked in facilities where asbestos was part of the infrastructure.

Read how one man's fight changed the law.

The history they knew and hid

The medical evidence against asbestos accumulated for decades before industry acknowledged the danger—and even longer before meaningful protections were put in place.

In 1899, British physician Montague Murray conducted a postmortem examination on a textile worker and noted "curious bodies" in the lungs—the first documented case of what would later be called asbestosis¹. By the mid-1920s, the condition had a name and a clear cause: inhaling asbestos fibers scarred lung tissue, leading to progressive respiratory failure. If asbestosis had been the only risk, stricter workplace controls might have allowed continued use of the mineral.

But asbestosis wasn't the only risk.

The asbestos industry worked hard to suppress evidence linking their product to cancer, and in the United States and England they largely succeeded. But they couldn't control what researchers in other countries discovered. In Nazi Germany, where occupational health research operated independently of Anglo-American corporate influence, scientists established the connection between asbestos and lung cancer by the early 1940s. Germany made lung cancer a compensable occupational disease for asbestos workers in 1943. American and British workers received no such protection.

It wasn't until 1955 that British epidemiologist Dr. Richard Doll published a landmark study of 113 asbestos textile workers, demonstrating a tenfold increase in lung cancer mortality compared to the general population—even among workers with lower exposure levels than those who developed asbestosis². By then, it was far too late for an entire generation. The shipyard workers, Navy sailors, and industrial laborers who built the machinery of World War II had already been exposed. They would spend the next several decades developing lung and other cancers that their employers had known were coming.

Then came the evidence that changed everything. In 1960, South African pathologist Dr. J.C. Wagner published a study of 33 cases of mesothelioma (a rare and aggressive cancer of the lung lining) in workers near crocidolite asbestos mines. Of the 33 cases, 32 had documented asbestos exposure. No other common factor could explain the cluster. Prior to Wagner's study, fewer than 100 cases of mesothelioma had been reported worldwide. His findings proved a direct causal link that the industry could no longer credibly deny - although they tried³.

Learn more about the diseases caused by asbestos exposure.

Despite this evidence, American asbestos use continued to climb. It peaked in the 1970s at more than 800,000 tons per year. OSHA was established in 1970 and issued its first asbestos exposure limits in 1971, but regulations remained weak for years. The EPA attempted a near-total ban in 1989, only to have it overturned in court in 1991. A comprehensive ban wasn't finalized until March 2024, which was more than a century after the first documented death.

For the workers who built America's industrial infrastructure during the peak decades of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the ban came far too late. Asbestos-related diseases take 20 to 50 years to develop. The workers exposed then are being diagnosed now.

Industries with the highest asbestos use

Nearly every American industry used asbestos in some form, but certain sectors integrated it so thoroughly that exposure became unavoidable for anyone who worked there. The following industries had the highest documented asbestos use, and the workers who built their careers in these facilities face the greatest risks today.

Shipyard and Maritime. Ships were "asbestosized" from stem to stern. Asbestos insulated boilers, steam pipes, turbines, valves, and bulkheads. It lined engine rooms and sleeping quarters. Shipyard workers like welders, pipefitters, electricians, and laborers had some of the highest documented exposure levels in industrial history, often working in confined spaces with poor ventilation where fiber concentrations were extreme.

Learn more about asbestos in shipyards.

Petrochemical and Refinery. Refineries required constant heat management across miles of piping, vessels, and processing equipment. Asbestos insulation was the standard solution. Clarence Borel spent 33 years in Gulf Coast refineries surrounded by it. Workers in these facilities faced daily exposure throughout their careers.

Learn more about asbestos in refineries.

Construction. Asbestos appeared in insulation, cement, roofing, floor tiles, ceiling tiles, joint compounds, adhesives, and sealants. Virtually every building constructed between the 1940s and 1980s contained asbestos materials. Construction workers installed them; demolition and renovation crews disturbed them for decades afterward. The exposure continues today when older buildings are remodeled or torn down.

Learn more about asbestos in construction.

Iron and Steel. Steel mills and foundries operated at extreme temperatures, and asbestos was used to insulate furnaces, pipes, ladles, and equipment throughout these facilities. Workers installed and repaired insulation in enclosed spaces filled with heat and dust. The protective clothing they wore such as gloves, aprons, and leggings often contained asbestos as well.

Learn more about asbestos in steel mills.

Glass, Aluminum, and Cement. Glass furnaces, aluminum smelters, and cement kilns ran at extreme heat, lined with asbestos refractory and wrapped in asbestos block and pipe insulation that crews mixed, cut, and tore out during every rebuild. Production workers who never laid a brick breathed the same furnace-house dust.

Learn more about asbestos in glass, aluminum, and cement plants.

Railroad. Locomotives generated enormous heat, and asbestos insulated their boilers, pipes, brake systems, and passenger cars. Railroad workers—engineers, mechanics, maintenance crews—were exposed in rail yards, repair shops, and aboard the trains themselves. These workers have special legal protections under the Federal Employers' Liability Act, which allows them to sue their employers directly.

Learn more about asbestos in railroads.

Utilities and Power Generation. Power plants (coal, oil, gas, and nuclear) required massive amounts of insulation for boilers, turbines, generators, and steam distribution systems. Workers who built, operated, and maintained these facilities encountered asbestos throughout their careers. The same was true for workers at water treatment plants, where asbestos cement pipes were standard infrastructure.

Learn more about asbestos in power plants.

Aerospace and Aviation. Aircraft needed materials that were heat-resistant, fireproof, and lightweight. Asbestos met all three requirements. It appeared in brake pads, clutch facings, engine gaskets, cockpit insulation, and fireproof clothing for pilots and ground crews. The demands of World War II and the Cold War drove massive expansion of aerospace manufacturing—and massive asbestos exposure for the workers who built military and civilian aircraft.

Learn more about asbestos in aerospace.

Military. Every branch of the armed forces used asbestos extensively. The Navy wrapped it around pipes and boilers on virtually every ship. The Army used it in vehicles, barracks, and equipment. The Air Force built it into aircraft. Veterans from all branches face elevated mesothelioma rates—and those whose exposure occurred during service may qualify for VA disability benefits in addition to other compensation.

Learn more about asbestos in the military.

Exposure didn't respect job titles

There's an old saying in asbestos litigation: "Asbestos doesn't respect trade lines."

When an insulation worker cut asbestos pipe covering, the fibers didn't stay in his work area. They drifted. They settled on nearby equipment, on other workers' clothing, on every surface in the vicinity. The electrician working ten feet away breathed them. So did the welder, the millwright, the instrument technician, and the supervisor checking on the job. Hours later, when the insulation work was done and the area looked clean, fibers remained suspended in the air and embedded in dust throughout the facility.

This is why job title alone doesn't determine exposure. Industrial facilities were shared environments. Pipefitters worked alongside boilermakers. Carpenters worked near painters. Maintenance crews moved through every area of a plant. Office workers walked through production floors. Security guards patrolled contaminated buildings for entire shifts.

If you worked at an industrial facility during the peak asbestos era (roughly the 1940s through the 1980s) you were likely exposed regardless of whether your job involved handling asbestos directly. Bystander exposure is well documented in medical literature and fully recognized under the law.

You don't need to have been an insulation worker or pipefitter to have a claim. If you worked in a contaminated facility and later developed an asbestos-related disease, the companies responsible for that contamination may owe you compensation.

Take-home exposure

The danger didn't stay at the plant. Workers carried it home with them.

Asbestos fibers are microscopically small and develop static electrical charges that make them cling to fabric, hair, and skin. When industrial workers left the job site, they brought those fibers with them on their work clothes, in their hair, on their boots and lunch pails. The exposure that had accumulated over an eight-hour shift then spread to everyone they lived with.

Spouses who laundered contaminated work clothes shook out clouds of asbestos dust before loading the washing machine. Children who ran to hug a parent coming home from work pressed their faces into fabric coated with invisible fibers.

Clarence Borel's daughters described shaking asbestos dust from his work clothes "like snow." They helped their mother with laundry and played in a house where fibers had settled into carpets, furniture, and bedding. Four of Borel's six children later developed asbestosis, a disease caused entirely by the fibers their father unknowingly brought home.

Family members who developed asbestos-related diseases through take-home exposure have their own legal claims against the companies responsible. They weren't employees. They never set foot inside a refinery or shipyard. But they were exposed just the same—and the law recognizes their right to compensation.

Legal options for industrial workers

Industrial workers and their families have multiple paths to compensation, and most qualify for more than one.

Asbestos Trust Claims. Many of the manufacturers whose products contaminated industrial facilities have filed for bankruptcy. They were required to establish trusts to compensate victims. If you worked in a facility that used their products, you can file claims against multiple trusts, often recovering substantial compensation without ever going to court.

Asbestos Lawsuits. Workers can sue the manufacturers who made asbestos products without adequate warnings, the property owners who failed to protect workers at their facilities, or both. When a worker dies from an asbestos-related disease, surviving family members can file wrongful death claims. All of these lawsuits trace back to Clarence Borel's 1973 case against the insulation manufacturers—the first successful asbestos product liability verdict in American history and the legal foundation for every asbestos lawsuit that followed.

Learn how one case opened the door for millions.

Workers' Compensation. Workers' comp provides benefits without requiring proof of fault, though recovery is limited. Importantly, accepting workers' compensation doesn't prevent you from pursuing trust claims or lawsuits against other responsible parties.

Social Security Disability. If your illness prevents you from working, you may qualify for monthly benefits through the Social Security Administration. Mesothelioma is on the SSA's Compassionate Allowances list, meaning claims can be fast-tracked for approval in weeks rather than months.

VA Disability Benefits. Veterans whose industrial exposure occurred during military service may qualify for monthly tax-free payments and VA healthcare in addition to other compensation.

Explore all your legal options.

These claims work together—but only if someone coordinates them. That's what we do. We identify every claim you qualify for, file them in the right sequence, and make sure nothing falls through the cracks. We've recovered more than $400 million for asbestos victims and their families by building comprehensive strategies that hold every responsible party accountable.

Our database includes detailed information on over 200,000 verified exposure sites across every major industry. If you worked at a refinery, shipyard, steel mill, or power plant, there's a good chance we already have documentation about asbestos use at your facility. That research gives us a head start on building your case and helps us identify claims that other firms might miss.

Learn how we build cases other firms can't.

References

[1] Tweedale, G., & Hansen, P. (1998). Protecting the workers: the medical board and the asbestos industry, 1930s-1960s. Medical history, 42(4), 439–457.

[2] Doll R. (1955). Mortality from lung cancer in asbestos workers. British journal of industrial medicine, 12(2), 81–86.

[3] Wagner, J. C., Sleggs, C. A., & Marchand, P. (1960). Diffuse pleural mesothelioma and asbestos exposure in the North Western Cape Province. British journal of industrial medicine, 17(4), 260–271.