Plumbers and Asbestos Exposure

Plumbers are trained professionals who install and repair pipe systems that are vital to the comfort of families and workers - controlling temperature and conveying water for cooking, bathing, and other purposes. Plumbers most often work on residential projects; larger-scale projects are tackled by the pipefitter, who possesses similar skills.

Oftentimes, plumbers must cooperate with other members of a construction crew, using blueprints to determine the specifics of a particular installation. Sometimes, plumbers are also called upon to design pipe systems for a project, using their skill and understanding of such to create the ideal complex of pipes for a home or other small building.

For many years, asbestos was a common source of insulation for pipe and pipe systems, because it is fire-resistant and is a poor conductor of heat. Before the 1970s, most pipes installed in homes contained this material and plumbers were often exposed during installation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of the pipes. If the asbestos insulation were at all disturbed during the course of plumbing work, microscopic fibers could be released into the air, where plumbers or members of a construction crew could easily inhale them. Subsequently, plumbers ran the risk of developing asbestos-related diseases later in life.

To this day, many plumbers still risk the potential of asbestos exposure that's already present in a home or office in which they are working. For example, plumbers must often drill or cut holes in a wall or ceiling in order to complete a repair or installation. In a building constructed before 1970, it is highly likely that those surfaces could contain asbestos insulation, which, when cut, drilled, or otherwise damaged will release dangerous fibers.

Given the near-omnipresence of asbestos in buildings constructed before the 1970s, plumbers still frequently work in the vicinity of asbestos-containing products. Before the 1970s, the dangers of asbestos were not widely acknowledged, and as a result of this, many thousands of plumbers came into contact with asbestos without using the proper safety procedures and equipment. In consideration of these threats, plumbers should always assume that a home or building might contain asbestos and take the proper precautions.

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