The Next Country to Ban Asbestos?

A panel of experts said the country of Bangladesh should do more to protect people against the ill health effects of asbestos poisoning.

Calls for a complete asbestos ban in the South Asian country began in 2021, when the country’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change began considering such a move. Speakers at a press conference held in the Dhaka Reporters Unity Hall Room, organized by the Bangladesh Ban Asbestos Network (B-BAN) and Bangladesh Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE Foundation), were especially concerned about asbestos in manufactured products, such as brake pads.

At the same time, they also underscored the need for more research to find out alternatives of asbestos and sensitization to the business community.

Environmental poisoning is a huge risk in countries like Bangladesh that have few pollution control laws. Environmental poisoning is a risk in America as well. Many companies not only ignore these laws. They also ignored the safety of their workers and put profits before people.

Industrial, construction, and shipbuilding workers are the most common asbestos poisoning victims. Asbestos does not conduct heat or electricity. It’s also corrosion resistant. These qualities, along with the low price of asbestos (mostly the low price) promoted companies to ignore the health risks of asbestos exposure for many years. More on these risks below.

In many cases, these workers not only handled asbestos-laced products, such as insulation. They also worked in asbestos-laced facilities. Tiny cracks in walls and ceilings allow toxic particles, like dust, to enter the atmosphere.

These dust particles also infected other workers, such as secretaries and janitors, who did not handle asbestos-laced products, but breathed asbestos fibers. These microscopic fibers are also small enough to absorb directly through the pores in the skin.

Servicemembers, particularly sailors, fall into this category as well. Until around 1980, Naval ships were packed with asbestos from stem to stern. Supposedly, future actor Steve McQueen scraped asbestos off pipes as punishment for going AWOL. Mesothelioma killed McQueen when he was just 50 years old.

Asbestos fibers have an even more indirect effect. These fibers usually have small spikes. So, they easily cling to surfaces, like hair and clothes. As a result, these workers often unintentionally carried poisonous substances home, where they infected friends and family members.

Regardless of the circumstances, an asbestos exposure lawyer can obtain significant compensation for these victims. This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. Additional punitive damages are usually available as well.

Two very serious forms of lung disease, asbestosis, and cancer, are the most common asbestos exposure-related illnesses.

Toxic asbestos fibers burn the insides of breathing passages in the lungs, causing scar tissue to form. Eventually, this scar tissue blocks these airways, many of which are not much larger than the tip of a needle.

Some asbestosis treatments, such as a lung transplant, are available. However, most asbestosis victims are in their 60s or 70s. These individuals are often in poor physical health and therefore not good candidates for such radical procedures.

Mesothelioma is largely untreatable. The five-year survival rate for this form of lung cancer is under 10%.

Fibers form tumors in the mesothelium, a membrane that surrounds the lungs. These tours usually grow very slowly and then suddenly spread very rapidly. The nature of mesothelioma makes it hard to diagnose and treat. Furthermore, mesothelioma is an unusually painful kind of cancer. Therefore, the victim’s final years are normally very bad years.

Mesothelioma victims need and deserve significant compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced nationwide mesothelioma lawyer, contact the Throneberry Law Group. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these matters.