While many of those who develop mesothelioma or another related illness suffered direct exposure to asbestos, others saw the growth of such diseases after only indirect contact with the material. Despite seemingly negligible contact, medical history has proven many of these individuals were also not safe. Professionals today agree that any amount of asbestos exposure is a threat. Furthermore, many of these individuals who underwent indirect, secondhand, or paraoccupational exposure did so for an extended period of time, with accumulating quantities of the material.

Domestic Asbestos Exposure

Employment in a career that involves asbestos exposure is not a prerequisite to developing mesothelioma or a related disease. Historically, families of individuals employed in careers like shipbuilding or construction were also at risk. This is because these asbestos fibers can travel on clothing and hair. If these workers did not change out of asbestos-dust covered clothing or wash off this debris, they unknowingly invited these particles into their homes. Unfortunately, few companies provided on-site facilities for these employees to launder their uniforms, allowing the travel of this dust.  

Traditionally, wives of these at-risk employees were in the greatest danger for becoming sick due to the home presence of these particles. For women who did not hold outside employment, laundering contaminated clothing posed the greatest risk of exposure. Furthermore, once these particles entered the home, they could then detach, becoming affixed to other surfaces, such as carpeting, upholstery and drapes. This gradual buildup of asbestos fibers in a home increasingly put family members at risk, especially because asbestos risks throughout much of the 20th remained virtually unknown to most American workers.   

Bystander Asbestos Exposure

Much like domestic exposure, some employees found their areas contaminated by asbestos fibers, despite not personally working with the material. However, these employees worked near others with job duties that included asbestos contact. Therefore, the entire facilities were put at risk when even just a handful of a company’s individuals suffered asbestos contact. An example of this bystander asbestos exposure is the railroad industry. Although station and office workers may never have had direct contact with the asbestos-containing areas on these cars and engines, regular visits from mechanics and operators of these trains put them at risk.          

Environmental Asbestos Exposure

Scientists agree that naturally-found sources of asbestos pose no threat to individuals, due to their encapsulation within other minerals and their sparse presence. However, large-scale collection and processing of this mineral has generated this danger to residents of certain areas. Most notably, environmental exposure has struck the mining town of Libby, Montana. This town’s local economy was largely supported by the W. R. Grace & Co. mine, which produced asbestos-tainted vermiculite. Although only a portion of the adult population of this town actually worked in this mine and processing facility, the vast quantity of materials brought from under the earth led to an unnaturally high concentration of asbestos in the immediate area. Even the trees surrounding the mine had asbestos fibers embedded in their bark.

The most recent controversy out of Libby, Montana involves those infected trees from around the mining site. When harvested, their bark and wood chips became mulch for the town, which sat on the outskirts of Libby for collection. Free to use the material, many of the residents of the town very recently spread these unsafe landscaping materials around their homes, ironically adding to their environmental afflictions despite an attempt to beautify their properties in the face of local tragedy.

Furthermore, these asbestos-tainted vermiculite particles found many other uses throughout the town during the operation of this mine, including as an insulator and soil additive. In addition, the numerous employees of this mine also unknowingly spread these particles throughout the homes and businesses of the town. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency has declared Libby a Superfund Site due to the town’s seemingly inescapable contamination.  In fact, over 400 deaths and thousands of other illnesses have been attributed to the abandoned mine and the town’s continued contamination with the material.