Unfortunately, it is not always an easy question to answer. Many employees have handled asbestos over the years without even being told what it was, or that it was a dangerous substance. Additionally, many people have been exposed to asbestos in more than one location as they moved from one place to another.

Finding the Source

If you worked around asbestos, you may not have been told that you were bringing home asbestos dust on your clothing, shoes, hair and skin to poison your family. You may have breathed in asbestos dust in the air because a company nearby was mining, milling or making things with asbestos. In addition, there were nearly 3000 products containing or made with asbestos that were used by consumers in one way or another.

Just being around something that was made with asbestos doesn’t necessarily mean that you were exposed to asbestos fibers. As long as the asbestos is intact, it presents no danger. When it’s broken, however, it releases fibers into the air that can be inhaled or swallowed. At that point it becomes friable, meaning that it may be releasing asbestos dust into the air. Workers in many industries were exposed to friable asbestos in the course of their jobs. If you worked in any job where you handled or removed products with asbestos, you may have been exposed to asbestos dust, often without knowing it.

If you suspect that you may have been exposed to asbestos dust, you should consult a doctor. While a chest X-ray won’t show fibers of asbestos in your lungs, it may show the early signs of damage from those fibers.

Determining Responsibility for Your Illness

Plaintiffs in asbestos exposure lawsuits have at least one advantage: asbestosis and mesothelioma have only been linked to the ingestion of asbestos. This makes it very difficult for defendants to argue that another environmental factor may have caused plaintiffs’ illnesses.

However, establishing that you were exposed to asbestos in a particular location, and that it caused your injuries, is almost never a simple process. It takes an experienced asbestos exposure attorney to narrow a plaintiff’s illness down to a specific source and effectively present this evidence in court.