Asbestos Exposure Manhattan
The most populous county in the United States, Manhattan is many things to many people. A vibrant city that is the financial capital of the world, it has seen its ups and downs. Manhattan is home to luxury high-rises and tenement-type apartments, office buildings and factories, some of the wealthiest Americans in the country and some of the poorest. It’s a melting pot of people that do all kinds of jobs.
Long a busy industrial city, Manhattan was a dream come true for many immigrants that arrived from across the sea. Here, they could find work in a variety of trades, from building ships along the Hudson River to working in one of the city’s many factories. The possibilities were endless.
Sadly, those who toiled at many Manhattan jobsites during much of the 20th century were exposed to asbestos. This toxic mineral was used for literally thousands of applications and may have been found in factories, power plants, chemical or oil refineries, shipyards, and many other places. It was used in skyscrapers as insulation and fireproofing and in schools to supposedly insure the safety of the children within its walls. Truly, it was everywhere, particular from just before the World War II years through the late 1970s.
Shipyards
Employees in the shipbuilding industry are among those individuals most susceptible to developing asbestos-related disease. Though shipyards have all but disappeared from Manhattan, the city was once a hot bed for shipbuilding. For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, Manhattan was also the busiest port and considered to be the world’s shipping capital.
Shipyards made rampant use of asbestos due to its miraculous heat-resistant properties and those who built ships in Manhattan yards were subject to consistent exposure. Many of those individuals would later go on to develop serious asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma.
The Power Industry
It takes a lot of power to light New York and keep things running smoothly. That means there are plenty of power plants in and around the city and, traditionally, there was lots of asbestos used to insulate equipment, wires, and other things that are necessary to generate electricity. Prior to the 1970s, asbestos was everywhere and while some renovations were made at various power plants and asbestos removed at that time, there are still some places where asbestos can be found.
Con Edison, the company responsible for New York’s power, has had some disturbing incidents involving asbestos. Most recently, a Con Edison-owned steampipe ruptured in a busy intersection around 41st and Lexington. This July 2007 occurrence resulted in the formation of a 35-foot crater and the release of a host of toxic particles, including asbestos from pipe insulation that was destroyed during the blast. While only one death occurred, others in the area may have inhaled sharp asbestos fibers, making it possible that they may eventually develop some sort of asbestos-related disease, including mesothelioma, a difficult-to-treat form of cancer.
World Trade Center Attacks
No one really knows how many hazardous toxins were released when the World Trade Center towers fell, but it is evident that many people were affected by what was in the air after the attacks. Within just a few short months of 9/11, survivors, first responders, and area residents were reporting serious respiratory problems. As a matter of fact, less than three years after the attacks, emergency responder Deborah Reeve was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a disease that usually remains latent in the body for up to 50 years. She died in 2006. Obviously, the concentration of asbestos in the air was high enough to prompt almost an immediate onset of this form of cancer. Since Reeve died, others have been diagnosed with asbestos-related illnesses.
It is believed that more than a half-million people were exposed to airborne toxins in Manhattan that day and in the weeks and months that followed. It is inevitable that more cases of mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases will be diagnosed as time goes on.