Asbestos was commonly used in many trades and occupational settings during the twentieth century. Asbestos insulated steam pipes, boilers and turbines. Gaskets and valves contained asbestos. Asbestos was incorporated into building products such as floor tiles, joint compounds and roofing cement. It was woven into blankets, used in gloves and even in glue.
Certain types of trades experienced very high levels of asbestos exposure. For example, insulators and pipefitters have long been known to be at extremely high risk for developing asbestos-related diseases. Members of the military, workers in the construction trades, such as carpenters, painters and electricians, and many workers in chemical and manufacturing facilities, like the steel mills of Pennsylvania, also experienced occupational asbestos exposure. Shipyard workers, many concentrated along the coast of California, were also exposed to asbestos as ships were built, serviced and overhauled.
Not only people working directly with asbestos products were exposed to the asbestos fibers. When asbestos fibers are released into the air, they can be breathed in by people working nearby. For example, some nurses and teachers have gotten sick because they worked in buildings where asbestos was in the air.
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