This week brought an early holiday surprise for asbestos victims involved in lawsuits against building giant USG. The company paid off the remained of more than $3 billion in funds for asbestos victims.
Christopher Ladera has been vacuuming insulation out of attics for 12 years without realizing he may have been exposing himself to deadly asbestos.
Ladera, whose company, EnviroAire, specializes in residential insulation removal, does about 700 homes a year in the Seattle area and runs into vermiculite insulation at least three or four times a month.
General Definition
Asbestos is the name of a group of highly fibrous minerals with separable, long, and thin fibers. Separated asbestos fibers are strong enough and flexible enough to be spun and woven. Asbestos fibers are heat resistant, making them useful for many industrial purposes. Because of their durability, asbestos fibers that get into lung tissue will remain for long periods of time.
Homeowners who have asbestos-contaminated vermiculite insulation in their houses should avoid disturbing it to minimize the chances of breathing in potentially lethal asbestos fibers, the Washington State Department of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency said yesterday.
Asbestos can be found in vinyl sheet flooring or vinyl floor tiles, but it is also found in vinyl wallpaper. Asbestos was added to these products to strengthen them, make them resistant to scratching and scuffmarks, and to make them more resistant to humidity. Asbestos in vinyl seemed like a good idea decades ago, before the link between asbestos and cancers (including mesothelioma) was established.
In Homes, Schools, and Offices
In the past, asbestos fibers were added during the production of flooring materials to strengthen the flooring and to increase its durability, resulting in many asbestos-containing flooring material icluding sheet vinyl, vinyl or asphalt floor tiles and any associated paper-like backing, mastic, adhesive or glue. The following are the most common types of flooring and their likelihood to contain asbestos.
Vinyl Composition Tile (VCT)
What are Floor Tiles?
Resilient flooring refers to man-made, non-rigid floor coverings made from materials such as vinyl, linoleum and asphalt as distinct from woven carpet, wood, ceramic, or marble. It is available as sheet goods and as individual floor tiles, typically 9” or 12” square.
Historically, some types of floor tiles have contained asbestos. VAT, or vinyl asbestos tile is made from vinyl with asbestos fiber filler. Some floor tiles also have a thin layer of asbestos felt on the back, and tile adhesives, or mastics, may also contain asbestos.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this policy is to clarify the requirements for addressing the removal of vinyl asbestos floor tile and other asbestos-containing floor coverings during renovation and remodeling projects.
Western MacArthur is a company responsible for many injuries and illnesses related to asbestos exposure, including asbestos lung cancer, asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma. A Federal District Court has established a settlement trust to oversee the equitable distribution of funds to those persons, or family members, injured by asbestos exposure induced by Western MacArthur. The paragraphs below describe the history of this company, the resulting asbestos injuries caused by its actions, and the Settlement Trust.
