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How Can a Plasterer Get Mesothelioma by Occupational Exposure to Asbestos?
Plasterers apply interior or exterior plaster, cement, stucco or other materials to buildings, walls and ceilings. Plasterers must often mix their own work materials. Many plasterers would mix asbestos with their plaster to make it more durable and resistant to fires. Additionally, plasterers patched holes in drywall with asbestos compounds. When they worked with these materials, they could breathe in microscopic asbestos fibers that could eventually cause mesothelioma.
Additionally, some plasterers work in maintenance capacities, so this increased the likelihood that they would be exposed to other asbestos-containing materials, such as insulation or pipe wrapping. When asbestos materials become brittle, fibers can break off into the air where people in the vicinity can breathe them in.
Common job duties of painters include:
- Apply plaster to interior walls, ceilings and partitions
- Follow blueprints or architect’s drawings
- Mix plaster to desired consistency
- Spread plaster over lath or masonry base
- Smooth plaster to achieve uniform thickness
- Erect scaffolding
- Mix mortar
- Sand undercoat
- Set ornamental plaster
- Create decorative textures in finish coat
- Use hand and power tools such as brushes, spray guns and trowels
Locations in the United States for the Highest Employment Rates for Plasters
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are currently 24,180 people employed as plasterers or stucco masons. States with the highest employment rates for plasters and stucco masons include:
- California
- Florida
- Texas
- Arizona
- Nevada
Similar Occupations as Plasterers
Similar occupations as plasterers include the following:
- Carpenters
- Construction laborers and helpers
- Drywall and ceiling tile installers and tapers
- Flooring installers
- Grounds maintenance workers
- Masonry workers
- Roofers
- Tile and marble setters
Lawsuits and Settlements Involving Plasters and Mesothelioma
There have been a few notable cases involving plasterers and mesothelioma. A San Francisco jury returned a verdict of $5.236 million to a former plaster worker who was diagnosed with mesothelioma and his wife. The case was against Hanson Permanente Cement, Inc. and Kaiser Gypsum Co. The former plasterer mixed bags of asbestos-containing cement produced by Hanson that were used to apply stucco during construction and remodeling projects. Later, he worked as a painter and used an asbestos-containing joint compound manufactured by Kaiser.
Studies Related to the Construction Industry and Asbestos
Plasterers work in the construction industry, which is considered the riskiest industry for possible asbestos exposure today. In the United States, there are still several construction materials that are made with asbestos, including cement sheets, millboard, non-roofing coatings and vinyl floor tiles. Several studies have explored the connection between the construction industry and asbestos exposure. Results of some of these studies include:
- An early 1979 study in found that when drywall workers sanded down drywall taping compounds, this caused concentrations of airborne asbestos to increase by several times above the then-permitted level.
- Another study found elevated rates of lung cancer in carpenters, painters and brick masons. There have been several reports that construction workers and contractors exposed to asbestos have an elevated incidence of mesothelioma and lung cancer.
- “Mortality among unionized construction plasterers and cement masons” evaluated 12,873 members of the Operative Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ International Association and found that plasterers and cement masons had elevated risks for certain serious diseases, including stomach and lung cancers.
- Another study found elevated concentration of asbestos fibers in the air during masonry, carpentry and painting activities that registered at five times the permissible level. These levels were even higher when the workers used power tools or mixed drywall cement.
- One North Carolina study found elevated rates of lung cancer in the construction industry. Many of these workers used speckling compounds that contained asbestos that they applied before painting the walls. Some of the workers used paint or textured coatings that specifically listed asbestos as an ingredient.
Types of Asbestos Products Used by Plasterers
Plasterers may have been exposed to asbestos found in various types of asbestos products that they worked with directly or that other tradesmen used in their proximity. Asbestos was found in a variety of construction products, including:
- Plaster
- Mortar mix
- Joint compound
- Paint
- Coatings and glosses
- Spackling compounds
- Textured coatings
- Fillers
- Drying agents
- Tape
- Wall tile backing
- Paneling
- Drywall
- House siding
- Cement siding
- Spray-on insulation
- Gypsum board and millboard
- Grout and mastics
Manufacturers of Products Used by Plasterers
Some of the manufacturers of products plasterers used or may have come in contact with include:
- American Biltrite
- Artra Group
- Bondex International, Inc.
- Brunswick Fabrications
- California Portland Cement
- Celotex
- E. Thurston & Sons
- Congoleum
- Delaware Insulation
- Eternit
- Fuller-Austin Insulation
- GAF
- Hamilton Materials, Inc.
- Hanson Permanente
- Johns Manville
- Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc.
- Kelly-Moore Paint Company
- Murco Wall Products
- National Gypsum
- Owens Corning
- Proko Industries, Inc.
- Sherwin-Williams Paint Company
- Synkoloid Company
- The Flintkote Company
- Union Carbide
- S. Gypsum Company
- S. Mineral Products
- R. Grace & Co.
