The Lyon Firm is investigating NASA Lewis Research Center asbestos exposure claims on behalf of former Cleveland, Ohio employees and contractors. NASA was known to use hazardous asbestos materials that may have caused cancer and other serious illness to those who spent time in the facilities.
Former employees of NASA’s Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio (now Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field) may have faced a heightened risk for asbestos-related diseases, including lung cancer and mesothelioma. As recent as 2007, employees at the NASA Lewis Research Center contacted the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in fear that the work facilities were still lined with toxic material, and still an occupational health risk.
The NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland consists of approximately 150 buildings and more than 500 research and test facilities. Many of the buildings were originally built using asbestos material. Thousands of employees and contractors work at the Cleveland, Ohio location.
In the last decade, employees have expressed concern about a high incidence of cancer among employees who worked at specific buildings, known to be constructed with asbestos products. The inspection report from NIOSH indicates that former employees may have been exposed to asbestos prior to the major abatement projects that NASA commissioned long after asbestos was discovered. These employees may be at risk of developing mesothelioma or lung cancer because of exposure in the last 30 years.
Any NASA employee at Cleveland’s Lewis Research Center could be at risk of developing serious health issues, including asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. Joe Lyon is a highly rated personal injury lawyer representing plaintiffs nationwide in a wide variety of toxic tort and mesothelioma claims.
NASA Cancer Clusters Signify Toxic Exposure
When several people in a workplace are diagnosed with cancer each year, the workplace itself may be a contributing or primary health factor. Since 1985, twenty different types of cancer were diagnosed among Cleveland NASA employees, including seven cases of lung cancer, which could possibly indicate asbestos exposure.
Other types of cancer diagnosed included melanoma, colon, thyroid, bladder, pancreatic, cervical, uterine, head and neck, bile duct, brain, and stomach cancers. According to the American Cancer Society, asbestos is a known occupational cause of lung cancer, and possibly other forms of cancer.
Cancer clusters thought to be related to workplace exposure usually consist of the same types of cancer. When several cases of the same type of cancer occur and that type is not common in the general population, it is more likely that an occupational exposure is involved. When the cluster consists of multiple types of cancer, an occupational cause of the cancer is less likely.
However, the specific location at NASA Lewis Research Center, in buildings 500 and 501, where a large number of the cancer victims worked, raises the likelihood of an occupational hazard. And, of course, the buildings were known to have been built with asbestos materials, a known toxic and cancer-causing substance.
