Manufacturers of asbestos-containing products and many of the companies who employed the men and women who worked with and around those products have knowingly exposed workers to asbestos hazards for decades. The attitude of many of these companies is best illustrated by the testimony of Charles H. Roemer, a former employee of Unarco, who described a meeting between Unarco officials and Johns-Manville President Lewis Brown and his brother, Vandiver Brown, in the early 1940s:

“I’ll never forget, I turned to Mr. Brown, one of the Browns made this crack (that Unarco managers were a bunch of fools for notifying employees who had asbestosis), and I said, ‘Mr. Brown, do you mean to tell me you would let them work until they dropped dead?’ He said, ‘Yes. We save a lot of money that way.’”¹

This callous attitude is reflected time and again in myriad industry documents over the span of decades. The companies that manufactured and used asbestos products had many sources of information demonstrating the hazards of asbestos exposure: published scientific and medical literature; industry trade organizations; and in some cases, the company’s own internal reports, studies, or other documentation.

The multitude of documents produced and possessed by the asbestos industry share a common theme: uncontroverted evidence that asbestos exposure causes disease and death in people exposed to the fiber. This information could have prevented countless asbestos-related deaths had these companies used this information to protect workers and the public.

 

Asbestos Uses

Asbestos fibers can be found in thousands of products. These fibers have been used for many years for their thermal insulation, chemical and thermal stability, and strength. The chart below lists some of the many products that contain asbestos fibers.

Products Containing Asbestos Fibers
Cement Pipes	Decorative Plaster	Laboratory Hoods/Table Tops
Cement Wallboard	Textured Paints/Coatings	Laboratory Gloves
Cement Siding	Ceiling Tiles and Lay-in Panels	Fire Blankets
Asphalt Floor Tile	Spray-Applied Insulation	Fire Curtains
Vinyl Floor Tile	Blown-in Insulation	Elevator Brake Shoes
Vinyl Sheet Flooring	Fireproofing Materials	HVAC Duct Insulation
Flooring Backing	Taping Compounds (thermal)	Boiler Insulation
Construction Mastics (floor tile, carpet, ceiling tile, etc.)	Packing Materials (for wall/floor penetrations)	Breaching Insulation
Acoustical Plaster	High Temperature Gaskets	Ductwork Flexible Fabric Connections
Elevator Equipment Panels	Cooling Towers	Pipe Insulation (corrugated air-cell, block, etc.)
Heating and Electrical Ducts	Electrical Panel Partitions	Electrical Cloth
Electric Wiring Insulation	Chalkboards	Roofing Shingles
Roofing Felt	Base Flashing	Thermal Paper Products
Fire Doors	Caulking/Putties	Adhesives
Wallboard	Joint Compounds	Vinyl Wall Coverings
Spackling Compounds

If you have ever worked in a job where you manufactured or handled these types of products on a regular basis, you may have inhaled asbestos fibers. If you plan to make any home repairs involving any of these materials, you may want to take extra precautions to protect yourself from any possible asbestos fibers in the process.