AsbestosAsbestos Industry
Who is at Risk?Carpenters
History and Background
The term 'carpenter' generally refers to men and women who are skilled craftsmen that specifically work with wood. These people work in a wide range of jobs from constructing small pieces of furniture to large scale buildings. Carpenters have been around for thousands of years as building with wood was one of the earliest forms of construction.
There are several basic types of carpenters. A 'rough carpenter' does more large scale work or any work that does not need to be artistically completed, including framing buildings. A 'finish carpenter' is someone who does fine woodworking, specializing in smaller projects including furniture making and cabinetry where exactness and polish are extremely important. A 'shipwright' is a carpenter who builds ships and other nautical vessels. A 'framer' works mainly on the skeletal structure of a building, focusing on room partitions. Finally a 'roofer' is a carpenter that focuses on roof construction.
Tasks Putting Carpenters at Risk for Asbestos Exposure
Similar to any other construction worker, carpenters were often exposed to asbestos, a natural mineral widely used in construction that is hazardous to one's health as discussed below. Asbestos is likely to be found in buildings that were built or refurbished between 1940 and 1980. It was also applied as insulation to buildings with a steel frame and used as insulation on and around boilers and generators.
Often carpenters worked on or around asbestos containing products, including: wallboard, gypsum, floor tiles, shingles, paint, millboard, even asbestos paper and cement, among others. The risk of exposure is worse if the carpenter uses power tools as these are more likely to create a large amount of possibly hazardous dust. Until the past couple of decades the dangers were not well known and many carpenters would work without safety equipment. Now most use masks and respirators to avoid exposure to dangerous dust.
Today, prior to remodeling projects, there must be inspections into whether or not asbestos is present. It subsequently needs to be removed before the work can begin. Small amounts of asbestos are commonly removed by those who are working on the project, though if there is a large amount present then a specialist must be called in.
Carpenters At Risk for Mesothelioma and Other Asbestos Diseases
By the mid 1970s, strong evidence was uncovered regarding the health dangers associated with prolonged exposure to asbestos. Many who had worked with asbestos for extended periods of time were coming down with pulmonary diseases (such as mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis) from breathing asbestos dust.
The asbestos related diseases include:
- Mesothelioma: a type of cancer only caused by asbestos exposure that attacks the lining around the lungs, heart or abdomen. This cancer is not in the organs themselves, though untreated it will spread. The most common form is pleural mesothelioma (lung lining), then peritoneal mesothelioma (stomach lining), and then pericardial mesothelioma (heart lining).
- Asbestos Related Lung Cancer: while lung cancer can come from numerous sources, asbestos exposure can lead to the formation of a malignant tumor that blocks the air passages (common for smokers who were exposed to asbestos).
- Asbestosis: a pulmonary condition, only caused by exposure to asbestos, where scar tissue builds up in the lungs causing breathing problems and low blood flow.
The diseases associated with asbestos are similar in that their symptoms often do not appear for many years after exposure. It is not uncommon for someone to develop lung cancer after a 10 year lag between onset and initial exposure. Asbestosis and mesothelioma often do not become apparent for nearly 30 or 40 years after the initial exposure to asbestos. Common symptoms include: difficulty breathing, chest pains, and a dry hacking cough that sometimes contained blood.
The health problems associated with asbestos were not just isolated to people who worked with the product. The asbestos dust would spread easily through the air putting workers who never used it at risk. Also, many family members were at risk as well because workers would return home with the dust on their clothes, shoes and even hair.
