Mesothelioma is prevalent among railroad workers throughout the United States due to their exposure to asbestos as railroad employees, typically over decades. In fact, mesothelioma symptoms do not appear until 15 to 40 years after the first exposure to asbestos, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”). Asbestos was widely used in the railroad industry in steam locomotives, diesel locomotives, brakeshoes, steam generators, railroad boilers, pipe insulation, cabooses, roundhouses, diesel repair facilities, and elsewhere.
Railroad workers of all different crafts were exposed to asbestos: machinists, pipefitters, electricians, shop workers, locomotive engineers, conductors, brakemen, trainmen, firemen, clerks, track workers, equipment operators, machine operators, laborers, and other crafts.
Given the prevalence of mesothelioma among current and former railroad workers, it is no surprise that according to a 2002 study on the relationship between mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, the railroad industry had the seventh highest level of mesothelioma cases. (1) This is above other industries such as automotive, steel/metal, paper mills, ceramics and glass, and even asbestos manufacturing itself.(2)
If you are a railroad worker who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or lung cancer, please contact us for information about your legal rights under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act.
1. Victor L. Roggli et al., Malignant Mesothelioma and Occupational Exposure to Asbestos: A Clinicopathological Correlation of 1445 Cases, 26 Ultrastructural Pathology 55, 56 (2002).
2. Id.
