For decades, Akron was a manufacturing hub for many of America’s largest corporations, particularly in the rubber industry, with large industrial plants throughout the city. Thus, Akron asbestos exposure was rife.
The rubber industry and other manufacturing firms employed tens of thousands of Akron residents, bringing prosperity to Akron, Canton, Mansfield, Warren, Youngstown and much of northeast Ohio. But along with steady employment and the growth of large corporations came Akron asbestos exposure, leading to cancer cases.
Asbestos manufactures selling and distributing asbestos for use by employers in Ohio learned of the toxic hazards and dangers of asbestos as early as the 1950s. However, many asbestos companies still chose to utilize the material because it was cheap, durable and effective in various applications.
These corporate decisions resulted in Akron industrial worksites being filled with toxic asbestos fibers that eventually broke down and filled workplaces exposing thousands of Akron industrial workers.
Akron workers found themselves in poorly ventilated work areas like boiler rooms and machine rooms with asbestos fibers lingering and easily inhaled and ingested. The highest risk jobs included Maintenance Crews, machinists, mechanics, painters, insulators, pipefitters and boilermakers, electricians and packing crews.
Medical experts and researchers have spent years studying the effects of working with asbestos and other dangerous chemicals in the rubber and tire industry.
The conclusion in numerous studies is always the same: the hazards of working in the rubber and tire industry is hazardous and workers have been regularly exposed to toxins and risk cancers like mesothelioma and lung cancer.
Thousands of Akron workers have already been diagnosed and suffered terminal illnesses, and many will continue to suffer as the latency period for asbestos-related diseases can be quite long.
Joe Lyon is an experienced Ohio Asbestos Attorney reviewing Akron asbestos exposure cases nationwide.
