Generators
Literally thousands of products once contained asbestos, including everything from home hair dryers to cement pipes used to carry water to towns around the country. Uses for asbestos grew throughout the twentieth century, and the mineral reached its peak during the mid-1900s, especially during the war years. The widespread use of the mineral could be attributed not only to its durability and heat- and fire-resistant qualities but also because it was inexpensive to use.
The generator was one of those items that usually contained some sort of asbestos parts. Generators require the use of electricity, which means the danger for fire is always present. Because of that, asbestos was ever present in generators of decades ago and may still be found in old generators that are still functioning. Generator parts that might contain asbestos include gaskets and pipe fittings. Often, generators were lined with asbestos as well.
Generators come in all shapes and sizes and are found literally everywhere, from hospitals and office buildings to ships and power plants. Today, parts found in generators manufactured after the U.S. government announced asbestos warnings in the mid-1970s do not contain asbestos. Safe materials have been substituted for the hazardous mineral.
Records show, however, that these safe alternatives were available long before companies stopped using asbestos. Unfortunately, manufacturers continued to make parts using asbestos, even though they often had inside information about the mineral’s danger – information they kept from employees who were exposed to asbestos every day. If the cover-up had not existed and the negative information had been divulged, many workers would have been spared the pain of developing serious asbestos-related pulmonary diseases such as asbestosis, pleural plaques, and mesothelioma.
Asbestos-related diseases are debilitating and a number of individuals who worked with asbestos generator parts have been diagnosed with these illnesses. No amount of asbestos exposure is safe but those who worked with the material on a daily basis were especially susceptible to developing these diseases.
Throughout the past few decades, the plight of asbestos-disease sufferers and the massive cover-up of asbestos dangers has come to light, and more and more advocacy groups have been fighting for the legal rights of mesothelioma victims, with much success. Despite the fact that it’s often difficult to fight big business, many asbestos victims have seen success in their fight for monetary compensation for their disease.
If you’ve developed mesothelioma due to your exposure to generators and asbestos generator parts, you should be aware of your legal rights as well. For more details, check out our free mesothelioma information kit.
