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How Can a Glass Factory Worker Get Mesothelioma by Occupational Exposure to Asbestos?
Glass factory workers make glass and glass products from raw materials, including window and plate glass, glass dishes, blown glass items and bottles. They may also make specialty products, depending on their job. Glass is used to make eye lenses, cookware, television tubes, light bulbs and fiber-optic cables for telecommunication companies and the military. Also, glass in the form of fiberglass is used to make insulation materials, boat hulls and other materials. Since the United States is a leading glass producer, many people may have been exposed to asbestos who worked in this industry when asbestos was commonplace. Because thousands of construction products once contained asbestos, including metal sheets, insulation and paneling, workers who assembled these materials with glass may have been exposed to asbestos from these products.
Additionally, asbestos was often used on machines in factories to insulate them and to prevent fires. Glass is made at high temperatures and asbestos is resistant to heat, so these machines were often lined with asbestos. Workers may have also worn protective clothing like aprons and mitts that were made of asbestos. Chemicals are often used to make glass, so when they came in contact with asbestos from nearby products, asbestos could have also become disturbed and inhaled by those nearby.
After forming glass products, many glass production workers must insert these products in ovens. Sometimes these ovens also contained asbestos in them. Additionally, many products required additional finishing operations, such as sealing products with plastic sheets. These finishing methods may have involved materials that contained asbestos.
Much glassmaking occurs by combining silica, another known health hazard, with other materials, so workers may have been exposed to multiple health threats at once. Additionally, the factories they worked in were often constructed with asbestos-containing materials, another possible source of exposure.
Locations in the United States for the Highest Employment Rates for Glass Factory Workers
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are currently more than 85,250 workers employed in the glass and glass product manufacturing industry in the United States. employed in the United States. States with the highest employment rates for these workers include:
- Illinois
- California
- Ohio
- Louisiana
- Georgia
Similar Occupations as Glass Factory Workers
Similar occupations as glass factory workers include the following:
- Assemblers
- Automotive glass installers and repairers
- Construction laborers and workers
- Drywall and ceiling tile installers and tapers
- Fabricators
- Glaziers
- Painting and coating workers
- Plasterers
- Sheet metal workers
Lawsuits and Settlements Involving Glass Factory Workers and Mesothelioma
There are not many reported cases involving glass factory workers who have developed mesothelioma and sued the manufacturer for developing this disease. However, there have been many cases involving the makers of fiberglass insulation, especially Owens-Corning which has frequently been at the center of asbestos litigation. Several cases against this large insulation manufacturer have resulted in millions of dollars in verdicts for construction workers, factory workers and others who have been adversely affected by the company’s asbestos-containing materials.
Studies Related to Glass Factory Workers and Asbestos
There have been a few scientific studies that have connected the glass production industry and asbestos exposure. In the “Exposures in the Glass Manufacturing Industry” study published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, researchers noted that asbestos was an occupational exposure risk for glass manufacturing workers. In a 1991 study, researchers discussed the problems of determining how asbestos exposure affected fiberglass workers when they were likely exposed to a variety of asbestos-containing sources. However, in the study entitled “Occupational Characteristics of Cases with Asbestos-related Diseases in The Netherlands” and published in The Annals of Occupational Hygiene in 2003, researchers found that one of the highest risk ratios for asbestos exposure was in the glass and cement industry.
Types of Asbestos Products Used by Glass Factory Workers
Glass factory workers may have come in contact with asbestos from a variety of products, including asbestos mitts that were designed to protect them from high temperatures. Asbestos was also included in flooring materials, drywall, joint compound and ceiling materials that were used to construct glass factories. Asbestos was also included in pipes and around boilers. Many factory settings do not offer good ventilation, so when asbestos fibers became dislodged from these various products, workers could breathe them in.
Manufacturers of Asbestos Products Used by Glass Factory Workers
Manufacturers of asbestos-containing products that glass factory workers may have worked with include:
- P. Green Industries
- Fibreboard Corp.
- Fisher Scientific Company
- Flintkote
- Forty-Eight Insulations
- Gaf-Ruberoid
- General Refractories Company
- Georgia Pacific Corporation
- Hamilton Materials, Inc.
- Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc.
- Johns-Manville
- Baldwin-Ehret-Hill
- Kelly-Moore Paint Company
- H. Detrick Company
- Montello, Inc.
- Synkoloid Company
- National Gypsum Company
- Plibrico Company
- Philip Carey Company
- Sherwin-Williams Paint Company
- Federal Mogul Corporation
- Union Carbide Corporation
- S. Gypsum Company
- R. Grace & Co.
- Zurn Industries, Inc.
- Owens Corning
- Owens-Illinois
