Asbestos Exposure Queens
The second most populous of New York’s five boroughs and the largest in terms of area, Queens is home to about 2.3 million people. This easternmost borough has always been highly industrial and the many immigrants who landed their after leaving Ellis Island usually made their living working in the many factories here. Indeed, Queens has remained largely a blue collar, working class area, still ripe with industry including two of the nation’s largest and busiest airports – JFK and La Guardia International.
Because of its industrial past and present, it’s easy to pinpoint Queens residents who have been affected by the use of asbestos. For much of the 20th century, the manufacturing facilities, power plants, and airports in Queens made widespread use of this toxic mineral, and those who worked in those locations each day for years and years often suffered from consistent exposure. Decades later, they would find that they had developed serious asbestos-related illnesses like mesothelioma due to on-the-job exposure that was virtually unavoidable.
Factories
Manufacturing facilities have traditionally been a huge presence in Queens though, in recent years, many plants have closed, leaving abandoned buildings ripe with all sorts of toxic materials. A few well-known companies still maintain their headquarters in this borough, including Bulova Watches and JetBlue Airlines.
Many manufacturing plants of the past made consistent use of asbestos, especially in places where heat and high temperatures were an issue. Asbestos was lauded as an excellent insulator and was inexpensive and readily available, so factories used it to insulate pipes and wires, to wrap boilers and generators, and even in protective clothing for their employees. Hence, many factory workers were exposed to the toxic material regularly.
Airports
Queens is proud to be home to two such busy and well-known airports, but those who’ve worked in those facilities have often compromised their health for their job. For several decades, asbestos was a common material in aircraft construction and many older planes were built using this insulator. Older parts of the airports may also contain asbestos insulating materials, which would help avoid fires and protect from the heat generated by airplanes and other equipment that operate at high temperatures.
Homes and Schools
Many of Queens’ public schools were built during the borough’s population boom, which took place beginning in the 1930s and continued through the 1960s. Asbestos was still in use at this time and materials containing the hazardous mineral were often used in schools. It wasn’t unusual for classrooms to contain asbestos floor or ceiling tiles or for auditorium curtains to contain asbestos. Older schools that have not been renovated still carry a risk of asbestos exposure.
In addition, many of the large housing developments in Queens carry a high risk of exposure. The builders of LeFrak City, for example, a high-rise housing project in the Corona section of the borough, used asbestos liberally throughout the 28 towers that make up the development. Eventually, a connection was made between the respiratory problems experienced by current and former residents and exposure to asbestos.
Power Plants
Queens is home to the massive Astoria Powerhouse, originally owned and operated by Consolidated Edison Corporation. It provides nearly half the energy needed by those who live and work in the Greater New York City Metropolitan area.
Power plants have always made extensive use of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials, due to the need to insulate machinery and equipment that operates at high temperatures, and it wasn’t unusual for damaged asbestos to prompt the circulation of airborne fibers, which could easily be inhaled by employees. Hence, those who worked at Astoria Powerhouse prior to the late 1970s were most likely exposed to asbestos while on the job, even if they didn’t work directly with the material.