New Jersey Asbestos Attorneys

The History of Asbestos

Presented by New Jersey asbestos attorneys Seeger Weiss LLP

There is only one reason people call upon an asbestos attorney. New Jersey residents stricken with mesothelioma cancer from inhaling this dangerous fiber need local help in lawsuits against manufacturers and companies who claim to know nothing of the dangers that can result in working around asbestos. But are their claims true?

Industry knowledge of the dangers of asbestos existed long before the public became aware of the health hazards associated with its use. The New Jersey asbestos attorneys at Seeger Weiss LLP want you to know the history of this deadly substance and how those who realized the risks often turned a blind eye.

It goes back a long way

In use for more than 2,000 years, asbestos is the only known cause of mesothelioma. The ancient Greeks called the material “asbeston,” which means “non-combustible.” Its early uses included wicks for flames, cremation funeral clothes and napkins. Yet even the ancient Greeks were aware of asbestos’ health risks.

The first-century Greek historian Strabo and Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder both referred to a "sickness of the lungs" in slaves who worked around asbestos. But everyone was too focused on the “magic” of asbestos to investigate the symptoms.

Asbestos use gradually dropped off in the ancient world, but during the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s, new uses for the “wonder fiber” were developed in Europe and the U.S. Early industrial applications of asbestos included insulation for ovens, boilers, steam pipes and turbines. At the height of its popularity, asbestos was used in thousands of different products from heavy industry and ship building to residential construction, automotive products and even plastics and paper goods.

Eyes began to open . . . and close

As asbestos use increased, so did the risk to the health of asbestos workers. As early as the beginning decades of the 1900s, the asbestos industry became aware of lung disease and lung-related deaths in asbestos miners. Studies by these industries in the United States revealed that many who worked with asbestos were dying young. Yet industry officials hid these deaths from their workers and the general public.

The disease “asbestosis” was first diagnosed in 1924, in a woman who had worked around asbestos since she was a teen. She died at 33. A study in England discovered that one quarter of asbestos workers showed signs of lung disease. In 1931, Britain enacted a law requiring increased ventilation in asbestos factories. A decade later, the U.S. created a similar law.

Medical research in the 1930s connected asbestos to cancer. But asbestos companies kept using the deadly fiber in construction and manufacturing, without any warnings to those who used their products – even after the advent of safer alternatives such as fiberglass insulation. It was not until the late twentieth century that the general public became aware of the health hazards of asbestos. Yet even as the number of deaths from mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases continued to rise, the manufacturers of many of these products continued to use asbestos.

Eventually in New Jersey, asbestos attorneys were retained to help those who had been hurt by this negligence. Premier New Jersey asbestos attorneys at the law firm of Seeger Weiss LLP are carrying on that important fight today.

Call on the top New Jersey asbestos attorneys

The attorneys at Seeger Weiss LLP are knowledgeable New Jersey asbestos attorneys with a solid history of providing professional legal services and advice to help people in their time of need.

If you or a loved one have worked around asbestos and have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, let history be your guide and call the trusted New Jersey asbestos attorneys at Seeger Weiss LLP. We will fight for your rights and work diligently to earn you a fair settlement from those who have done you harm.