Secondary Asbestos Exposure

What Is Secondary Asbestos Exposure?

Secondary asbestos exposure, also known as secondhand or take-home exposure, happens when asbestos fibers are brought home from a jobsite on a worker’s clothes, skin, or gear. Family members can unknowingly breathe in or swallow these microscopic fibers and fall ill years later.

Key Facts About Secondary Exposure to Asbestos

• Exposure often occurs when a worker’s contaminated clothes or belongings are handled, washed, or stored at home.
• Loved ones of workers in high-risk jobs like construction, shipbuilding, and manufacturing are often affected.
• Spouses, children, parents, roommates, and coworkers can all be harmed.
• Even brief or low-level exposure can be dangerous, and symptoms may not appear for 10-50 years.
• Health risks include mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis.

For decades, asbestos companies knew the risks but chose profits over public health, allowing dangerous fibers to reach workers’ homes and sicken their families. Courts have held these companies accountable, often awarding substantial compensation.

LawFirm.com has partnered with secondary asbestos exposure attorneys who can help families in all 50 states and never charge any upfront costs or hourly fees. They’ve secured over $10.2 billion for asbestos victims nationwide.

Get a free case review right now to take the first step toward the justice and compensation you deserve.

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Compensation for Secondary Exposure to Asbestos

Victims of secondary asbestos exposure may be entitled to compensation from asbestos lawsuit settlements and verdicts. These payouts can cover medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and more.

Secondhand asbestos settlements and verdicts secured by our legal partners include:

• $11.93 million for a New York patient diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma
• $6.2 million to a woman exposed through her husband’s job
• $5.1 million for a Missouri woman exposed secondhand
• $4.4 million to the family of an Illinois woman who died from secondary exposure
• $3.24 million for a Wisconsin mail carrier exposed through their father’s job
• $2.88 million to a Michigan mother exposed via her husband and son
• $2.5 million for a woman exposed through her father’s submarine carpentry work
• $2.38 million to a Michigan woman exposed through her husband
• $2.37 million for a Washington client with secondhand exposure
• $2.13 million to a Wisconsin woman exposed via her father and grandfather
• $1.61 million for a stay-at-home mom exposed through her paper mill worker husband
• $2.55 million to an Indiana woman exposed through her mechanic husband
• $4.93 million for an Illinois woman exposed through her father’s work
• $7.1 million to the family of nurse exposed secondhand

While your potential case value may vary based on your illness and the details of your secondary exposure to asbestos, these results show what’s possible. However, time is limited to seek compensation, so it’s important to act without delay.

Can I Claim for Secondary Exposure to Asbestos?

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease due to secondhand exposure, you may be eligible for compensation from a secondary asbestos exposure claim.

Secondary asbestos exposure claims include:

• Mesothelioma lawsuits: You can sue the manufacturers of asbestos-containing products that caused your illness, even if your exposure was indirect. Nearly all mesothelioma lawsuits end in settlements, which pay over $1 million on average.
• Asbestos trust funds: Over $30 billion has been set aside by bankrupt asbestos companies. Victims typically qualify for multiple trust fund claims, maximizing their total payout, and can file from the comfort of their own homes.
• Veterans benefits: Veterans with malignant mesothelioma receive a 100% VA disability rating, often worth $4,044.91 per month plus free health care. Family members who lived on base may also have been exposed secondhand, supporting additional claims.

Families may also be able to file mesothelioma claims after death if a loved one has passed away from secondary exposure to asbestos. While no amount of money can undo the harm, taking action can help families get closure and move forward.

Statute of Limitations for Secondary Asbestos Cases

Every state limits the time you have to file an asbestos lawsuit. These statutes of limitations often start 2 to 3 years from the date of diagnosis or death. Once this deadline passes, you may lose your right to pursue justice and compensation.

Because secondary asbestos exposure cases require detailed investigation, it’s important to contact an experienced mesothelioma law firm as soon as possible. The sooner you reach out, the sooner they can start building your case and pursuing compensation.

Proving Secondary Asbestos Exposure to Family

Proving secondary asbestos exposure can be challenging because asbestos-related illnesses may not appear until decades after contact. By the time symptoms develop, many people no longer remember when or how they were exposed.

You don’t have to figure it out alone. An experienced asbestos lawyer can ask questions about your background, trace the source of your exposure, and identify the companies responsible for your illness.

A mesothelioma lawyer can:

• Examine your personal, work, and family history to uncover likely pathways of exposure. This includes identifying whether you lived with or were in close contact with someone who worked in an asbestos-heavy trade.
• Pinpoint the products and manufacturers responsible for your secondary exposure to asbestos and resulting illness.
• Use their extensive resources, like asbestos investigators, in-house medical staff, expert witnesses, and decades of evidence on asbestos companies and jobsites to secure the best results possible.

Real cases show how powerful this legal help can be. One man’s illness was linked to asbestos dust his father brought home from a paper company job.

Julie Gundlach’s mesothelioma was traced to her father’s work as a commercial electrician, whose asbestos-covered clothes were washed near her play area.

“The asbestos industry does not want you to know that asbestos is still in products. They don’t want those products labeled, because they want to keep everyone ignorant of where it is so that they can absolve themselves of responsibility.”

– Julie Gundlach, mesothelioma survivor

By working with an experienced lawyer with the skills and resources to take on powerful asbestos companies, you can increase your chances of getting the justice you deserve.

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Who’s At Risk of Cancer From Secondary Exposure to Asbestos?

Secondary asbestos exposure happens when asbestos fibers are carried home by someone who worked with or around asbestos-containing materials. Anyone in close contact with that person could be at risk of mesothelioma and other serious diseases.

Those at risk of secondary asbestos exposure include:

• Children
• Parents
• Spouses and domestic partners
• Other household members, including roommates

Hugging someone before they’ve changed out of contaminated work clothes, laundering asbestos-laden clothes, cleaning a house where take-home asbestos dust has settled, or sharing tools or vehicles used on asbestos job sites can release fibers into the air and put others at risk.

Historically, men were more likely to work in asbestos-related jobs, making women more likely to be exposed through husbands, fathers, and uncles.

Jobs With Secondhand Asbestos Exposure Risks

For most of the 20th century, many industries required workers to come into contact with asbestos-containing materials daily. While this direct contact, or primary exposure, put workers at risk, it also endangered their families.

Occupational asbestos exposure often affected:

• Asbestos workers
• Auto mechanics
• Boilermakers
• Construction workers
• Engine workers
• Firefighters
• Insulators
• Military personnel
• Miners
• Mill workers
• Plumbers and pipefitters
• Roofers
• Shipyard workers
• Textile workers

By the time the dangers of asbestos were widely acknowledged, many family members had already been harmed, often without ever stepping onto a job site.

If you or a loved one is facing an asbestos-related diagnosis, the right lawyer can uncover where your exposure happened, prove who’s responsible, and work to secure the financial compensation your family deserves.

Let a Secondary Asbestos Exposure Attorney Fight for You

LawFirm.com has partnered with secondary asbestos exposure lawyers who have the experience and resources to take on powerful asbestos companies and fight for the results victims deserve.

Our trusted legal partners can handle all the legal work, so you can focus on your health and treatments.

Call (888) 726-9160 right now or get a free case review to see if you may qualify. There are no upfront costs to work with the secondary asbestos exposure attorneys in our network.