To some it might seem as though asbestos issues aren’t at the top of the news headlines any more, but it doesn’t mean the issues no longer exist. In fact, the cost of exposure to asbestos is still high, and it may get higher still.

An American Insurance Association-commissioned study carried out by Sebago Associates indicates that the number of asbestos claimants will continue to increase for some time. The total outlay for asbestos-related insurance claims is currently around $54 billion, and the study confirms that the total will increase too.

Actuarial consulting firm Tillinghast-Towers Perrin estimates that up to 1.1 million claims will eventually be filed. The total cost to defendants and insurance companies is estimated at $200 billion. Another consulting firm, Milliman USA, estimates a total cost of $275 billion.

It’s been estimated that around 1.3 million people working in the construction industry are still exposed to asbestos, even though the addition of asbestos to most products has been discontinued. Among those still at risk of exposure are carpenters, drywall hangers, pipe fitters, and workers in remodeling and building demolition.

Linda Reinstein, executive director and co-founder of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, said, “We still have homes, offices, hospitals with asbestos; we have underground infrastructure, sewers and tunnels that are built with asbestos. It’s everywhere, in products and even kids’ toys.”

The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization commissioned independent laboratory tests in 2007 that found trace amounts of asbestos in five different types of toys.

Dr. George Riegel, of Asbestos Removal Technology and Healthy Homes Inc., says that asbestos is in “thousands, if not millions, of homes; it’s in most homes built before 1978, in asbestos floor tiles, steam pipe insulation, the old gravity furnace octopus ducts and in vermiculite in attic insulation.”

Dr. Michael R. Harbut, co-director of the National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos-Related Cancers at the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, says that the estimate 10,000 deaths every year in America due to asbestos is nowhere near the peak death rate. Harbut says that asbestos-related deaths won’t peak until around 2018, due to the long latency period of asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma.

Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of American homes contain some form of asbestos. According to Harbut, inhalation of even one fiber can potentially cause mesothelioma.
Harbut estimated there are at least 300,000 - 400,000 homes with some form of asbestos, which reached its peak use in 1978.

The multi-billion-dollar burden of asbestos-related insurance claims and lawsuits put many companies out of business or into bankruptcy, including Federal Mogul Corp and W. R. Grace.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 9:11 am and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, Asbestos Litigation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.