Texas woman files lawsuit after secondary asbestos exposure

Galveston, Texas - A woman from Galveston, Texas, claims that she developed mesothelioma as a result of secondary exposure, and has filed suit against the Marathon Petroleum Company and several other defendants, including the Todd Shipyards Corporation and the BASF Corporation. Cynthia Leigh Chason filed suit on May 8, 2008, claiming that her asbestos exposure occurred as a result of her father’s work on asbestos-containing products. The petition filed on May 8 states that “Ms. Chason was exposed to asbestos through household contact from her father, Loy Garner, who was employed by Marathon from 1969 through at least 1979. In addition, Ms. Chason was exposed through her father who also worked at Smith Douglass in Texas City from 1961 to 1969; and additionally he did some short-term contracting work in the 1970s for BASF in Freeport, Todd Shipyard in Galveston, and Monsanto in Texas City.” The suit claims that Cynthia Leigh Chason was “exposed to large quantities of asbestos” as a result of her father’s occupations, some of which involved handling asbestos-containing products, or working with or around asbestos-containing machinery. The suit also argues that the defendants in the case were aware that asbestos was a dangerous substance and that they failed to warn their employees that exposure to asbestos was a health hazard. In addition, claims the lawsuit, the defendants also failed to warn employees that asbestos fibers could be transported home and that other family members could be exposed to the fibers. Asbestos-related disease caused by secondary asbestos exposure is relatively rare. In most, if not all, cases of secondary exposure, the resulting diseases is mesothelioma rather than asbestosis, because the cancer can develop after relatively small amounts of asbestos exposure. Asbestosis usually develops after long-term or heavy exposure to airborne asbestos fibers. Secondary exposure to asbestos usually occurs in people who live with a family member who works with or around asbestos or asbestos-containing products. If the family member working with asbestos does not take the precautions needed to prevent their own exposure, they are able to expose the people they live with if they arrive home with asbestos fibers adhering to their clothing. Mesothelioma is a particularly devastating disease due to the aggressiveness of this type of cancer. The disease spreads quickly and is highly resistant to all current forms of treatment. Mesothelioma has a very high mortality rate, and around half those diagnosed with the disease will die within two or three years. The lawsuit states that litigation will continue even after Cynthia Leigh Chason dies. (Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News)