In Need Of Employment…

Honorably discharged from my service to the U.S. Navy after a five year enlistment, our little family of four returned home to join the civilian workforce.

Viet Nam was winding down, it was August 1974 and less than a year before the war officially ended. One of my siblings took us in, and in October, I was offered a position with a sign manufacturing company where my brother and bother-in-law were both employed.

The job was working in the neon plant where we heated and formed glass tubing into letters and other shapes, filled the tubing with neon and argon gas, and connected the finished tubes to high voltage transformers that caused the gas to glow. 

Although there was always the chance of severe burns over the burners, and by the heated glass itself, the most dangerous situation (which was unknown at that time) were the huge rolls of ASBESTOS SHEETING that was used for pattern-making, and on which to lay and form the white-hot glass.

Courtesy of Atlantic Neon Co., Custom Neon Signs & Art.

Neon Fabrication

In a separate building away from the main production floor, the sunlight revealed heavy clouds of dust that hovered above the large, flat surfaced tables. Around each of the two tables were lighted gas-burners of various shapes and sizes, and stored beneath the tables were boxes of glass tubing of varying types and diameters.

On top of each table sat a heavy roll of thick asbestos sheeting, on top of layers of pre-cut sheets rolled open across the 8 x 8 foot surface. On these, patterns were drawn into which the glass tubing had to be shaped as it was held in and above the flames of the various burners, and then dropped onto the asbestos to be formed.

When the shape cooled, electrodes were attached to both ends, and the tube was filled with neon or argon gas that illuminated when electricity was applied. Pre-LED times, neon was the most commonly used method for lighting signs in shopping malls, stores, and other large venues.

Images of the burners and shop (not the one we worked in).

Work Table

Hand Held Burner

Ribbon Burner

Cross Fire Burner

Ignorance and Deception

Although it is said that ignorance is bliss, it is never blissful to walk unwittingly into a dangerous environment, and it was in this environment that my supervisor and I worked amid this cloud of noxious dust without protection, and completely oblivious to the danger.

If you watch television, then you are likely aware of this commercial announcement:

There are many who mock or consider this to be just another irritating Big-Pharma or Class Action ad, but like so many other illnesses that can overtake us as we age, mesothelioma is cancer that can sneak up on you. If you will take a few minutes to read this personal experience with asbestos exposure, you will understand why I find it to be of concern, as should you because exposure was not always obvious.

Timeline of Asbestos Regulations

Asbestos regulations in the U.S. began in the 1970s. For decades, asbestos was used heavily in construction and industrial products. Despite research into asbestos-related diseases as early as the 1920s and 1930s, many industries profited from asbestos and fought bans.

As the U.S. government passed laws to regulate it in the 1970s and 1980s, asbestos use decreased. Manufacturers began to seek safer, alternative materials. As awareness of the dangers of asbestos grew, consumer demand for asbestos-free products also drove companies to phase out its use.

So what’s the difference between Mesothelioma and Asbestosis?

According to the Cleveland Clinic,

“The main difference between asbestosis and mesothelioma is that mesothelioma is cancer and asbestosis isn’t cancer. The disease of asbestosis remains in your lungs and pleura (the covering of your lungs). Mesothelioma begins in the tissue of your lungs and abdomen. It can spread throughout your body.”

According to the American Cancer Society, the likelihood of developing either Asbestosis or Mesothelioma is “loosely” relative to the amount of exposure, and often has other mitigating factors that contribute to the development of the diseases such as smoking.

The point is this:

” … millions of Americans may already have been exposed to asbestos. People at risk for asbestos exposure in the workplace include some miners, factory workers, insulation manufacturers and installers, railroad and automotive workers, ship builders, gas mask manufacturers, plumbers, and construction workers. Family members of people exposed to asbestos at work can also be exposed because the workers can carry home asbestos fibers on their clothes.

Asbestos was also used to insulate many older homes, as well as commercial and public buildings around the country, including some schools. Because these particles are contained within the building materials, they’re not likely to be found in the air in large numbers. The risk of exposure is likely to be very low unless the particles somehow escape into the air, such as when building materials begin to decompose over time, or during remodeling or removal.”

The Sword of Damocles 

That is a story that comes from an old Greek moral tale told by Cicero around the 1st century BCE: Damocles sat on the throne, reveling in riches — until he looked up.
Above his head, suspended by a single horsehair, hung a sharp sword.

Nobody would like the idea of sitting in chair with a sword dangling from a thread above their head. “Will it hold?” “When will it fall?”

Well, if you were exposed to asbestos as we were, and are aware that you are at risk and aging takes on an even greater dimension of anxiety.

Personally, I have made it through seven decades of life, and more than five decades since I was exposed. So far, so good. Many others have not been so fortunate.

Although not diagnosed, my former supervisor and brother-in-law has developed breathing issues, and has had at least one diagnosed heart attack. Were they asbestos related? I have no idea, but I know that he was exposed much longer than was I, and I hope for his sake, as well as the millions of others exposed, that they never have to live with the results of it.