AsbestosAsbestos Industry
Who is at Risk?Power Plant Workers
History and Background
Power plant workers control the machinery that generate the electricity at a power plant. There are three main occupations within a power plant: operators, distributors and dispatchers. In 2004, there were 51,000 people working at one of these three jobs. An operator controls and monitors the boilers, generators, turbines, and any other auxiliary equipment. They decide which boilers and generators to use and they make sure that they are running properly. A distributor controls the flow of the electricity that is produced. They focus on current converters, voltage transformers, and circuit breakers. Dispatchers basically decide where the electricity is going and how much that area will get. These people have to anticipate different power needs, for example due to extreme weather.
The general public needs electricity around the clock, so operators, dispatchers and distributors are needed twenty-four hours a day at their respective power plants. Due to this need, these men and women usually work eight hour shifts on a rotating schedule, or twelve hour shifts.
Asbestos Usage in Power Plants
Asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral, was often used as insulation and protection against heat and fire. Asbestos dust is extremely dangerous if it is inhaled, as discussed below. Until the past couple of decades, asbestos was used extensively in power plants across the USA. Many pieces of equipment in power plants contained asbestos. Through construction and maintenance of these, asbestos dust would get into the air, creating a potentially hazardous environment.
Boilers, turbines, generators and other equipment were assembled with and insulated with asbestos. Gaskets that were used to seal pumps and valves were often made using asbestos or asbestos containing products. In a typical power plant, there are miles of pipes that carried steam throughout that would need to be insulated. Asbestos block insulation was commonly used. This insulation and gaskets would need to be fitted to specific areas, requiring workers to trim and sand the products inadvertently throwing asbestos dust into the air.
Asbestos was also used as fire-proof roofing and flooring. The asbestos dust was not contained in one specific area, and as a result all who worked within the powerhouse were at risk. Drafts blew the dust around, workers carried it on their clothing, and even the floors were made of metal grating allowing the dust to pass through. Until the 1970s it was also commonly used in paints, plumbing fixtures, and pipes. Since then there have been restrictions on its usage, however power plants that were constructed prior to these restrictions undeniably contain asbestos. Recently many power plants are removing the asbestos from their premises. As long as the employees take precautions, there should not be any problems, but it is possible that asbestos dust can still get in the air.
Power Plant Workers 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 and/or heart and/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, a dry hacking cough that sometimes contained blood. These diseases are usually fatal.
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.
