While Hawaiʻi residents are increasingly aware of the serious health risks associated with occupational exposure to asbestos in the workplace and from military service, many don’t realize how frequently they may come in contact with the material.
Used for insulation, as a fire retardant and many other applications, asbestos can be found in homes and in military housing throughout Hawaiʻi. In addition, generations have been exposed to asbestos in the workplace and in military service.
Asbestos has been widely used in the construction of buildings in Hawai‘i for generations. According to the Hawai‘i State Department of Health, most residential buildings in Hawaii contain some asbestos, which can be found in ceilings, walls, insulation and flooring.
While these materials pose little risk when a building is kept in good condition, they become hazardous when asbestos is disturbed. Storms, high winds and natural disasters can cause minute fibers to break away and create a risk to human health.
While it’s well-established that the deadly form of cancer known as mesothelioma is caused solely by exposure to asbestos, thousands of people throughout the U.S. mainland and Hawaii continue to die from the disease every year.
About 3,000 cases of mesothelioma are registered each year in the United States. In Hawaii, there are approximately 38 asbestos-related deaths a year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Mesothelioma was discovered in the late nineteenth century and gradually came to be associated with exposure to asbestos. The mineral has been used throughout history, but as the Industrial Revolution took hold, more and more uses were found.
The serious health risks associated with asbestos exposure have been known for generations. The naturally occurring fiber is the only known cause of mesothelioma, an incurable and deadly form of cancer of the lining of the lungs and internal organs. Legal and regulatory scrutiny of asbestos use has ramped up over the years — including a 2024 ban on chrysotile asbestos — but an alarming number of Americans continue to die from mesothelioma every year. While mesothelioma diagnosis rates have fallen among men, they have remained steady among women.
Cases of mesothelioma around the world have been increasing along with a rise in the global use of asbestos, despite an acknowledgment more than 40 years ago by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that all forms of asbestos are carcinogenic.
Asbestos exposure causes mesothelioma, a cancer of the tissue that lines the lungs, chest wall, and abdomen. Given that asbestos continues to be used globally in a variety of commercial products, it’s not surprising that mesothelioma cases and deaths associated with the disease have been rising too.
After years of tireless work by advocacy groups on behalf of cancer victims, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finally taking action against asbestos, a dangerous substance known to cause cancer, severe illness and countless fatalities each year.
In March 2024, the EPA took a major step toward protecting Americans from asbestos exposure with a historic ban on a common type of asbestos known as chrysotile. It was the first substantive move to protect Americans from asbestos exposure in decades.
Galiher DeRobertis & Waxman is proud to announce that Managing Partner Ilana Waxman has been recognized among the nation’s top plaintiffs civil trial lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers organization.
Waxman was singled out by the invitation-only organization based on her work on behalf of individuals diagnosed with mesothelioma from asbestos exposure, as well as victims of childhood sexual assault. Her practice also focuses on representation of families of children born with birth defects due to exposure to toxic chemicals and individuals suffering from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma from exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide.
Until about four decades ago, most structures in Hawaii were built with material containing asbestos, including the state’s military bases, state buildings, homes and even schools.
While the health risks from these materials are well-known today, the use of asbestos – while highly regulated in Hawaii – is still allowed in certain products, creating serious risk for anyone who comes in contact with them.
Asbestos is composed of six minerals that occur naturally in the environment as bundles of fibers that can be separated into extremely fine threads for commercial and industrial uses. The fibers are resistant to heat, fire and chemicals and do not conduct electricity.
The stories about the dangers of asbestos exposure are horrifying and all too common: mesothelioma, lung, laryngeal and ovarian cancer, and ultimately death. But despite the well-known risks of the dangerous and deadly carcinogenic fibers, the United States still has not banned asbestos.
While dozens of other countries have outlawed asbestos, the United States allows hundreds of tons each year from Brazil to benefit two major chemical companies, OxyChem and Olin Corp. The companies say asbestos is crucial to chlorine production and that their protocols for handling it keep workers safe from exposure. But those workers claim otherwise.
More than a dozen former workers from OxyChem’s plant in Niagara Falls, New York, told ProPublica that asbestos dust hung in the air, collected on the beams and light fixtures and built up inches thick. Workers often were without protective suits or masks and the dust collected on their coveralls and boots.
The Environmental Protection Agency and Congress accepted the companies’ claims that workers were safe. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration let the companies into a special program that limited the frequency of inspections at their plants, ProPublica reported.
OxyChem declined ProPublica’s requests for an interview. The company said in a statement to ProPublica that it complies with federal regulations on asbestos and that workers who handle it are “trained, work in restricted areas of our plant, protected by personal protective equipment and are offered annual medical examinations.” The company also said it allows employees to stop work if they feel unsafe.
“The health and safety of every plant worker and the people in our surrounding communities is our top priority,” the company said.
Olin did not respond to calls and emails that ProPublica said it sent over the course of a month.
The former workers agreed to hours of interviews with ProPublica and recounted “ever-present asbestos dust with scant protection.”
Federal workplace safety standards require keeping asbestos fibers wet to prevent them from going airborne, having workers wear protective equipment and containing the asbestos inside certain areas. OxyChem had rules in place, but the protocols failed to match reality at the Niagara Falls plant, according to more than a dozen workers who spoke to ProPublica.
Tanks of chlorine, caustic soda and hydrogen contained metal screens coated with layers of asbestos to keep the chemicals apart. When screens needed to be recoated, OxyChem workers used pressure washers, splattering asbestos everywhere. Then, they dipped the clean screen into a wet mixture containing new asbestos and cooked it in an oven until the asbestos hardened. They worked on one or two screens each day.
Asbestos wasn’t a problem when it was wet, but it would dry overnight. The next morning, the workers told ProPublica, it would be stuck to the ceiling and the walls. Clumps would roll across the floor and floating particles could be seen in the air.
There was so much asbestos in the cell-maintenance building that it was impossible to keep it all wet, said Robert Cheff, who worked at the plant from 1981 to 2007. “We were constantly swimming in this stuff.”
Workers wore protective gear for certain tasks, like pressure washing and screen dipping. But they went into the building to carry out other tasks without special suits or anything protecting their faces, despite company requirements. One worker said managers enforced those rules. But a dozen others interviewed by ProPublica recalled that the bosses looked the other way.
The stories shocked six experts in industrial hygiene and occupational health who were consulted by ProPublica.
“Totally unacceptable,” said Rachael Jones, professor and chair of the Environmental Health Sciences Department at the University of California, Los Angeles.
“Fraught with danger,” said Dr. Philip Landrigan, a public health physician trained in occupational medicine and epidemiology who leads Boston College’s program for Global Public Health and the Common Good.
Workers with a high risk of exposure sometimes clipped a small monitor to their bodies to measure the amount of asbestos in the air around them. At least five times in 2001 and 2002, the levels around Patrick Nowak exceeded OSHA’s exposure limit, ProPublica said his company records show. “I failed so many times, they quit testing me,” he said.
Tony Garfalo wore a monitor seven times in 2001, and, on four occasions, the results exceeded OSHA’s limit, his records show. Once, the asbestos level was more than five times the allowable limit.
Under the Biden administration, the EPA determined that all workers in asbestos-dependent chlorine plants faced an “unreasonable risk” of getting sick from it, citing a review of the companies’ own exposure-monitoring data. EPA Administrator Michael Regan proposed a ban for the first time in more than three decades. But it could be months before the rule is finalized and the chemical industry has vowed to fight it.
How We Help Victims of Asbestos Exposure
Seek justice with the help of our experienced asbestos attorneys. Our asbestos law firm has represented individuals like you affected by asbestos exposure for over 20 years, aggressively fighting the corporate giants responsible for their dangerous products. If you or a loved one were exposed to asbestos or suffered from a disease caused by asbestos, like mesothelioma, we can help.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 3,000 cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed annually. The current consensus is that mesothelioma is an incurable form of cancer that attacks the mesothelium or lining of certain internal organs.
There are three main types of mesothelioma to watch out for based on the location of the mesothelium affected: pleural mesothelioma, which affects the tissue surrounding the lungs; peritoneal mesothelioma, which attacks the membrane around the stomach; and the last type is located in the lining of the heart, known as pericardial mesothelioma. Each of these forms of mesothelioma has its own targeted set of symptoms to monitor.
While mesothelioma may currently be incurable, it is possible to prolong survival and improve patients’ quality of life by managing their symptoms as long as they catch it early enough. The following addresses the types of the cancer and the question, what are the symptoms of mesothelioma.
While many of these symptoms sound incredibly common, especially during a global pandemic that affects the respiratory system, it is crucial to get them checked out by a doctor if you notice any of these warning signs persisting or anything out of the usual. It is imperative to monitor your health for these signs if you have a history of asbestos exposure.
Doctors often arrive at a mesothelioma diagnosis by accident during other routine screenings or X-rays. Although, advancements in health science have revealed that people with mesothelioma have high levels of substances like fibulin-3 and soluble mesothelin-related peptides (SMRPs). Measuring for these substances can be another way to reach an early diagnosis. The best method to catch mesothelioma early is in scenarios where patients can tell their doctors if they have been exposed to asbestos, the toxic fiber with a known causal link to the disease.
However, there are many cases where people are unaware of their asbestos exposure. It can take anywhere from 20 to 50 years for symptoms to manifest after the initial exposure to asbestos. By that time, the cancer has usually spread. Signs including fatigue, chest pain, and weight loss do not typically appear until mesothelioma has already progressed. Pressure on the nerves or other parts of the body typically occurs in stage 3 or 4 mesothelioma cases. Additionally, these symptoms are often misdiagnosed as more common conditions, which can cause further delay. Therefore, it becomes that much more important to pay attention once those symptoms present themselves in order to seek proper treatment as soon as possible.
