Imagine your child walks inside after a long day, tired and worn out, and covered in dust and dirt. Most moms command that the clothing — the jeans, the t-shirt, maybe a jacket — be left in the front hall and that the “guilty party” proceed to the bath before dinner.

And then you do the next sensible thing: you endure a few minutes choking in dust as you shake out the dirty clothes. Hours later, you feel grit on your face and on your scalp as you run your fingers through your hair.

Now change that scenario a bit. It’s not your child, but your husband. Your husband is returning form a long day at work where he has spent his day working with or around asbestos-containing products. He has been removing old products or installing new ones. The dirt on his clothes is not dirt — it is asbestos dust. For many women from before the mid-1970s, this meant daily exposure to a deadly carcinogen. In addition, the children of the worker are also potentially exposed by coming in contact with their father or his dirty clothing.

According to the Mesothelioma & Asbestos Awareness Center, data going back to 1966 shows more than half of all mesothelioma cases in women or children are traceable to a relationship with someone who had exposure to asbestos at work.

An Asbestos Informer publication by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says para-occupational exposure happens when workers’ families or housemates inhale asbestos fibers from clothes worn by a worker in contact with asbestos on the job. Other secondary exposure, called neighborhood exposure, may occur when people who live or work near work sites that release asbestos fibers into the environment.

If you would like more information, please call an experienced asbestos lawyer at 855.546.4600 or visit our website, Asbestos Answers Now.