[breadcrumb]

cement_workersHow Can a Cement Plant Worker Get Mesothelioma by Occupational Exposure to Asbestos?

Asbestos was added to cement in a variety of materials. Fibro, fibrolite and AC sheets are all names for an asbestos cement in which asbestos fibers were added to reinforce thin rigid cement sheets. This material grew in popularity during World War II since it was used to help construct military housing. Itt was used as an inexpensive roofing material. It was also fireproof and replaced alternative roofing materials, such as asphalt. It was also used as a replacement renovation material for wood siding, brick, slate, stone and shingles.

Asbestos was added to cement to form corrugated sheets to make roofing and siding materials that were added to buildings, factories and farms. Additionally, asbestos flatsheets of asbestos cement was added to the interiors of homes and businesses as their walls and underflooring. Asbestos cement sheathing was used as an alternative to wood and used as a base for shingles and false brick facing.

Asbestos continued to be used in cement-based products until the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration took steps to ban asbestos-containing materials. However, for seven decades, this product was on the market and was being produced in cement plants where workers could have been exposed to it.

Every worker who added asbestos fibers to cement products would have been exposed to asbestos. When these workers breathed in loose fibers, the fibers could have become attached to their lung lining or mesothelioma. These fibers can stay in the lungs and eventually lead to cancerous tumors and mesothelioma.

Common job duties of cement plant workers include:

  • Place concrete blocks into machine or abrasive saw to shape blocks
  • Arrange pipe in storage yard
  • Stack pipe
  • Place rubber gaskets on pipe
  • Stack concrete blocks on pallets
  • Brush facings to remove loose material
  • Apply acid solution to concrete blocks
  • Use brush to remove concrete around stones and wash acid from stone
  • Repair defects in concrete surfaces
  • Smooth rough spots
  • Load and unload cement, sand and gravel

See All Asbestos Jobs

Locations in the United States for the Highest Employment Rates for Cement Plant Workers

There are 14,003 cement manufacturing employees in the United States, as of 2019. This industry experienced growth at a rate of 2.2% between 2014 and 2019.

The five leading cement-producing states are:

  • Texas
  • California
  • Missouri
  • Florida
  • Alabama

Similar Occupations as Cement Plant Workers

Similar occupations as Cement Plant Workers include the following:

  • Assemblers
  • Cement masons
  • Concrete finishers
  • Fabricators
  • General laborers
  • Plumbers
  • Tile and marble setters

Lawsuits and Settlements Involving Cement Plant Workers and Mesothelioma

There have been a number of lawsuits filed by cement plant workers or people who were exposed to asbestos cement, including the following cases:

  • A former Johns-Manville asbestos cement plant worker died of mesothelioma after working at the plant for 24 years. His family received an award of $3.4 million after the jury found the plant’s asbestos supplier negligent for failing to warn about the dangers of working with the raw material.
  • A California jury awarded more than $208 million to a woman who developed mesothelioma and her husband. The jury found against CertainTeed Corporation and found it responsible for the man’s exposure to asbestos. It manufactured asbestos-containing pipe that it supplied to the man’s workplace. He installed and maintained water mains where he came in contact with this material. His wife developed secondhand exposure.
  • Another family was awarded $11.4 million. Their loved one cut, installed and repaired asbestos cement water pipes.
  • A former pipe installer was awarded more than $10 million against manufacturer CertainTeed Corporation after finding that the company was responsible for it developing mesothelioma through its negligence, failure to warn, fraud and strict product liability.

Studies Related to Cement Plant Workers and Asbestos

There have been a few scientific studies that demonstrate an increased exposure of asbestos on cement plant workers, including the following:

  • “Mortality study of asbestos cement workers” was a 1994 study on Italian asbestos cement workers in ten plants who investigated 3,441 workers. Researchers found an increased rate of mortality and cancer in the workers, compared to the general population.
  • A 1998 study entitled “Further follow-up study of workers from an asbestos cement factory” traced 1,970 workers who were employed in an asbestos cement factory for at least six months between 1936 and 1977. Two cases of mesothelioma occurred in the subjects studied.
  • A 2015 Polish study examined the number of asbestos-related cancers that were developed by five types of factories that produced asbestos products from the 1940s to the 1990s, The highest rate of mesothelioma among the different types of factories were for asbestos cement workers.
  • A study of nearly 7,000 employees of two asbestos cement plants in New Orleans, which found a link between the mesothelioma risk factors and the amount of time they were employed at a cement plant. Researchers found that the longer a worker was employed at a plant, the more likely he or she was to develop cancer.

Types of Asbestos Products Used by Cement Plant Workers

Cement plant workers may have been directly exposed to asbestos that was contained in the products that they were helping to produce. Cement products that often contained asbestos include the following:

  • Powder for masonry mortar and binding cement
  • Cement roofing, flooring and siding materials
  • Asbestos cement sheets
  • Bonding cement
  • Foundation cement
  • Insulation inhibitors
  • Cement pipe
  • Pressure pipes
  • Gutters
  • Downspouts
  • Finishing cement
  • Heat shields
  • Joint cement
  • Drainage products
  • Chimney flues
  • Wallboard
  • Heat shields
  • Fire control bricks

Manufacturers of Asbestos Products Used by Cement Plant Workers

Manufacturers of asbestos cement and other products that contained asbestos that cement plant workers may have been exposed to include the following:

  • Ametek Inc.
  • P. Green Industries
  • Armstrong Contracting and Supply
  • Asbestone Corporation
  • Asbestos Shingle Slate & Sheathing Co.
  • Atlas Asbestos
  • Baldwin-Ehret-Hill
  • Bondex International, Inc.
  • Celotex
  • CertainTeed Corporation
  • Durabla Manufacturing Company
  • Eagle-Picher
  • Eternit
  • Flintkote Company
  • GAF Corporation
  • Garlock, Inc.
  • General Refractories Company
  • James Hardie Industries
  • Johns Manville
  • Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc.
  • Keasby & Mattison Company
  • H. Detrick Company Products
  • National Gypsum Company
  • North American Refractories Company
  • Phillip Carey Manufacturing Corporation
  • Plant Rubber & Asbestos Company
  • Plibrico Company
  • Quigley Company, Inc.
  • Rutland
  • S. Gypsum
  • S. Mineral
  • R. Grace & Co.