Asbestos Awareness Conference Scheduled For April 2018
For nearly 15 years, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) has held a conference every year to raise awareness and educate the public about the hazards of asbestos exposure and its devastating heath consequences. Since the conference’s inception in 2005, more than 300 victims, lawmakers, abatement experts, and union members have come together to speak out about this carcinogenic material in hopes of inspiring action to be taken to ban asbestos consumption and use in the United States.
The 14th annual International Asbestos Awareness Prevention Conference is scheduled for the weekend of April 13-18, 2018, in Washington D.C. The weekend- long event includes group activities, academic programming, and an awards dinner; honoring those who have dedicated time and compassion to making a difference in the lives of many.
Dangers of Asbestos Exposure
Asbestos use can be dated back to the time of Emperor Charlemagne, but it did not become a popular building and manufacturing material until the Industrial Revolution. Its durability, affordability, and fire-resistant qualities made it a “jack-of-all-trades” material that could be used in many lines of work. Railroad workers, shipbuilders, factory workers, construction workers, and miners are some of the occupations that are highest in risk of exposure, as asbestos was a standard in the industry. Steel mills, chemical plants, power plants, etc., all contained asbestos insulated equipment such as blast furnaces, coke ovens, basic oxygen furnaces, continuous rolling mills, electric arc furnaces, and open hearth furnaces. Workers would come home covered in asbestos dust and contaminate the household. Wives came into contact with the carcinogen simply by doing laundry; children through something as innocent as a hug.
Asbestos fibers are small, invisible to the naked eye, and nearly impossible to detect. Upon immediate exposure, it does not irritate the eyes, nose, or throat. Many workers unknowingly breathed in these toxic fibers and are now suffering years later. Once inhaled, asbestos fibers become embedded in certain organs and other soft surrounding tissue causing scarring and inflammation. The once normal cells begin to change and cluster together, ultimately forming tumors that damage the surrounding healthy tissue. Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive cancer that’s only known cause is asbestos exposure, but many cases of lung cancer, colon cancer, throat cancer, and asbestosis have been found to be attributed to asbestos exposure as well. The latency period between time of asbestos exposure and illness can span decades, so those who were exposed during the height of asbestos consumption and use in the mid-20th century are just now showing signs of illness.
The dangers of asbestos exposure are well known, and anti-asbestos advocates like the ADAO are continually pushing for the ban of all asbestos use in the United States and put an end to incurable cancers like mesothelioma that are wholly preventable.
For over 30 years the attorneys at Goldberg, Persky & White, P.C. have been fighting for those suffering from an asbestos-caused illness at the hands of their employer’s or company’s negligence. For years, many asbestos companies and manufacturers knew about the dangers of asbestos, but chose to place profits above their workers’ health and not inform their employees. If you are suffering from a life-threatening illness that may have been caused by asbestos exposure, contact the attorneys at GPW for a free, no obligation consultation, and take advantage of our experience and dedication and get the compensation you deserve.
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