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How a Solderer Can Get Mesothelioma by Occupational Exposure to Asbestos
Solderers use heat to join two or more molten metal objects together. They use metals with a melting point below 840 degrees Fahrenheit.
Solderers work with materials at high temperatures, so they must often use gloves, aprons, coveralls and masks to protect themselves from flames and burns. Historically, many types of protective clothing contained asbestos due to its insulating properties, so this supposed protective clothing could have exposed soldering workers to asbestos.
Additionally, soldering work is often used to make electrical and electronic circuit boards, including computer chips. These electrical objects may have contained asbestos insulation to prevent fires and to insulate them. Solderers could have breathed in asbestos fibers while working with these materials, which could become lodged in the lining of their lungs and eventually result in mesothelioma.
Solderers may have also worked in the construction industry where they may have been exposed to asbestos from construction products, like insulation, ceiling tiles, joint compound and paint. Other workers could have used these materials or had asbestos fibers on their clothing that transferred to others nearby.
Common job duties of steel workers include:
- Read and follow blueprints, sketches and other specifications
- Calculate the dimensions of parts to be used during the soldering process
- Inspect structures or materials that are set to be soldered
- Use hand-held or remotely controlled equipment
- Ignite torches or start power supplies
- Monitor the process to avoid overheating
- Maintain equipment and machinery
Locations in the United States with the Highest Employment Rates for Solderers
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are currently 424,700 solderers, cutters, brazers and welders currently employed in the United States. States with the highest employment rates for these professionals include:
- Texas
- California
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Wisconsin
Similar Occupations as Solderers
Some occupations that are similar to solderers include:
- Assemblers
- Boilermakers
- Cutters and brazers
- Fabricators
- Industrial machinery mechanics
- Jewelers and precious stone and metal workers
- Machinery maintenance workers
- Machinists
- Metal and plastic machine operators
- Millwrights
- Masonry workers
- Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters
- Sheet metal workers
- Tool and die makers
- Welders
Lawsuits and Settlements Involving Metal Workers
There have been a few lawsuits filed by metal workers and their families who were affected by asbestos exposure. In 2003, two New York juries found welding rod companies liable for $6.64 million in damages caused by products the juries found defective.
The family of a former welder received a $1.29 million verdict against Hobart Brothers Company, which manufactured asbestos-containing welding rods. For nearly three decades, the man used these contaminated rods to weld electric arcs at a metal fabrication company. He died from asbestos-induced lung cancer.
A metalsmith for the U.S. Navy received a verdict of $21 million against the manufacturers of the insulation products, gaskets and valves that provided products to the Navy during his career. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005 due to asbestos exposure.
Studies Related to Solderers and Asbestos
There have been several studies that have found an elevated level of asbestos exposure in the metal works industry and to welders, who had similar exposure levels.
Several studies have found welders at a greater degree of risk for developing mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure. For example, one large-scale study that analyzed asbestos exposure risk among various occupations and found welders were at significant levels of exposure. Another study conducted on shipyard welders found that 13 out of 306 of the workers had irregular developments on their lungs caused by asbestos fibers, which is significantly more than the average rate for the general population.
The 2013 study entitled “Welding and Lung Cancer in a Pooled Analysis of Case-Control Studies” also found an elevated risk of lung cancer in solderers.
Types of Asbestos Products Used by Solderers
Solderers may have come into contact with a variety of products that contained asbestos products while completing their job duties. They may have used welding rods or electrical and electronic circuit breakers that contained asbestos. Additionally, they may have worn protective clothing that contained asbestos, such as coveralls, masks and gloves. They could have also been exposed to asbestos from dropped ceilings, machinery insulation, electrical panel insulation or construction materials used on site.
Manufacturers of Asbestos Products Used by Solderers
Some of the manufacturers that made asbestos products that solderers may have been exposed to include the following:
- Afton Pumps
- P. Green Industries
- AK Steel
- Armstrong World Industries
- ASARCO
- Babcock & Wilcox
- Bondex International
- Celotex
- Combustion Engineering
- Congoleum
- Eagle-Picher Industries
- Eastern Refractories Company
- Flintkote
- GAF Corporation
- Garlock Sealing Technologies
- Harbison Walker
- T. Thorpe
- Johns-Manville
- Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc.
- Kentile Floors, Inc.
- Lincoln Electric
- NARCO
- National Gypsum
- Owens Corning
- Pfizer/Quigley
- Pittsburgh Corning
- Riley Stoker Corporation
- Sterling Fluid
- Turner & Newall
- United States Gypsum
- Vulcan Iron Works, Inc.
- Westinghouse
- R. Grace
- Western MacArthur
