Effects of Supplements

Everyone is familiar with the term \”asbestos\”. Even the asbestos-related cancer known as mesothelioma is a common term today. Everyone also knows that asbestos-related products were commonly used and appeared throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Ultimately it was discovered that asbestos fibers can cause serious health problems and these products were subsequently outlawed or heavily regulated for safety reasons. However, few people know that asbestos products and even pure asbestos was also used on offshore oil rigs during the 1960s through the mid to late 1980s. Offshore workers in the oil and gas industry were regularly exposed to dangerous asbestos fibers without being provided proper safety protection.

Asbestos is the term used to describe several naturally occurring minerals. These minerals have various geological names but together are commonly referred to as asbestos-type minerals. One common characteristic is that they all can produce very minute fibers which easily break apart and are disbursed throughout the air. It is these fibers that are typically inhaled into a person\’s lungs ultimately causing injury. A person\’s body cannot in any way process these fibers, and thus they remain in a person\’s body forever.

The oil field, both on land as well as off shore, began using asbestos products during the 1960\’s and continued through the mid to late 1980\’s. Asbestos products were used as additives in connection with the drilling mud used for offshore and on land drilling. Asbestos provided heat resistant properties as well as a cohesive property, or bonding agent, which was very beneficial when mixed with drilling mud. Several of these asbestos-related products were actually pure asbestos fibers which workers were required to mix directly into the drilling mud.

Medical problems that typically arise from past asbestos exposure include asbestosis which is the presence of asbestos fibers in a person\’s lungs. This can be determined by an X ray with a proper, qualified X-ray reader. The asbestos-specific cancer known as mesothelioma is the worst asbestos-related health danger. Mesothelioma can occur in a person\’s lungs, abdomen, heart and testicle area. Finally, asbestos fibers can cause pulmonary fibrosis or scarring of the lungs. All of these above-mentioned health problems can be properly screened by a qualified physician.

The good news for workers who were previously exposed to asbestos in the oil and gas industry is that maritime law and a federal law known as the Jones Act may provide relief for these workers if they worked offshore or on drilling barges on the water. Under maritime law and the Jones Act, claims can be filed directly against past employers for any asbestos-related exposure that a worker may have experienced while working for these past employers. This situation typically arises in regard to oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and drilling barges which operated from the 1960\’s through the mid to late 1980\’s. Many of the workers on these oil rigs and drilling barges were exposed to asbestos and they may just be beginning to experience asbestos-related health problems because many asbestos-related health problems do not surface or \”manifest\” until decades after the worker\’s exposure to asbestos.

Visit the asbestos information websitefor more information on your rights under maritime law. You can also learn about the use of asbestos on oil rigs and in drilling muds at the site.