Transite - Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure Risks

Transite is a composite fireproof material that is used in the building trades and has been used in the building trades since the late 1920s. Until the mid 1980s, transite included 12 to 50 percent asbestos, mixed with Portland cement. Transite was used to make roofing shingles, siding shingles and boards, furnace flues and cement siding, especially where fireproof material is desired.

Transite was extremely popular from the mid-1930s through the mid-1970s when the public awareness of the dangers of asbestos, along with the wider availability of aluminum and vinyl siding, made transite less popular as a siding material. Transite tiles were used to cover roofs, side houses, tile floors and insulate refrigerated coolers, among other things.

Originally, transite was available in gray, but over the years it was mixed with various coloring agents. By the 1940s and 1950s, transite siding was available in an array of colors and patterns to satisfy the home decorating needs and wishes of the consumer.

Transite roof shingles and siding were made most often with chrysotile asbestos mixed with Portland cement to create a rigid, board-like material that could be molded or extruded and cut into appropriate sizes for siding, floors, roof tiles or other uses. As long as transite is in good condition and has not been disturbed by weather, erosion, sanding or drilling, the asbestos in it does not pose a serious risk. When it has deteriorated to the point where it can be crushed by hand (friable) that transite becomes hazardous.

People who worked in the construction industries may have been exposed to airborne asbestos fibers when working with transite. Those most likely to have been exposed to asbestos fibers includes workers in factories where transite was made. Handling powdered asbestos fibers and mixing it with Portland cement and other ingredients of transite exposed workers to extremely high concentrations of asbestos fibers. Exposure to asbestos can lead to a variety of diseases, such as asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma cancer.

Because of this link, and because asbestos companies mined, processed, sold and manufactured products made with asbestos while deliberately hiding the dangers of asbestos from the public and their own workers, courts and juries have awarded high settlements to plaintiffs that have been diagnosed with mesothelioma. Since the mid-1970s, thousands of plaintiffs have brought suit against asbestos companies for negligently exposing them to a clear danger without warning them of the hazard or providing them with any form of protection from that hazard.

The risk of mesothelioma could have been greatly reduced with a few simple safety precautions. In many cases, cloth filter masks might have prevented many of the cases of mesothelioma that were caused by inhaling asbestos fiber during the manufacture or use of asbestos-containing materials. If you developed mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure from making or using transite, you may be entitled to compensation for your illness. To learn more, please fill out the form on this page to receive an informative packet in the mail.

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