Boilermakers and Asbestos Exposure Risks
If you worked as a boilermaker, you faced some of the heaviest asbestos exposure of any trade. Asbestos was standard in boiler insulation, gaskets and packing for most of the 20th century. Diagnoses are still happening today.
Why Boilermakers Faced Heavy Asbestos Exposure
Boilermakers build, install, inspect, repair and dismantle boilers, pressure vessels and related components. They work in shipyards, power plants, refineries, factories and large commercial buildings. For most of the 20th century, that work meant daily contact with toxic asbestos.
From the early 1900s through the early 1980s, asbestos was the standard material for insulating, sealing and fireproofing boilers and the steam systems they fed. Boilermakers cut and shaped insulation blocks, scraped asbestos cement off boiler walls, replaced rope packing and gaskets, mixed dry insulating cement and ground refractory bricks. Each of these tasks released asbestos fibers into the air.
Confined spaces like boiler and ship engine rooms trapped airborne fibers, pushing exposure levels far higher than open-air work sites. Even short-duration exposure decades ago can lead to a diagnosis today.
Boilermakers at Higher Risk
Some work environments carried especially heavy asbestos exposure. Boilermakers in these settings faced confined spaces, dense asbestos materials and little ventilation.
Higher-Risk Work Environments
- Chemical plants
- Civilian shipyards
- Fossil-fuel power plants
- Oil refineries
- Paper mills
- Steel mills
- U.S. Navy ships and Navy-contracted shipyards
Even short-duration exposure in these environments decades ago can lead to a diagnosis today. Our investigators reconstruct decades-old exposure histories across jobsites, ships and product manufacturers, even when records are sparse.
Asbestos Products in the Boilermaker’s Trade
Boilermakers didn’t just work near asbestos. They handled it directly, often every day. Many of the products common to the trade contained 50% or more asbestos content, and disturbing them released fibers into the air.
Common Boiler Components
- Asbestos cloth, tape and millboard
- Asbestos rope, packing and gaskets (manhole and handhole seals, valve stem packing)
- Block and pipe insulation (lagging on steam lines and boiler walls)
- Fireproofing spray applied to boiler casings and surrounding structures
- Insulating cement and mud (mixed dry, often hand-applied)
- Refractory bricks, mortar and castable cement
Two manufacturers with confirmed asbestos trust funds appear frequently in boilermaker claims: Babcock & Wilcox and Combustion Engineering. Our attorneys identify every asbestos trust fund you qualify for based on your specific exposure history.
What Diseases Do Boilermakers Develop From Asbestos?
Boilermakers are among occupations with some of the highest rates of asbestos-related disease in the country, comparable to insulators and shipyard workers. A 2019 study in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine examined more than 1,800 trade workers, including boilermakers. It found that 38% developed asbestosis and 45% developed pleural plaques. Many people getting diagnoses today had their first exposure in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Asbestos-related diseases can take 20 to 60 years to appear after exposure.
Asbestos-Related Diseases
- Asbestosis: It’s a chronic scarring of lung tissue from inhaled fibers that progressively limits breathing.
- Lung cancer: Asbestos exposure substantially raises the risk, especially for people who also smoked.
- Mesothelioma: A rare, aggressive cancer of the lining of the lungs, abdomen or heart, it’s the signature asbestos disease. Boilermakers face diagnoses at disproportionately high rates.
- Other linked cancers: Research has associated asbestos exposure with laryngeal, ovarian and certain gastrointestinal cancers.
- Pleural plaques and pleural thickening: These conditions are markers of past asbestos exposure and cause shortness of breath and chest pain.
When asbestos fibers are inhaled, the body can’t expel them. They lodge in tissue in the body where they cause persistent scarring, irritation and inflammation over decades. That chronic cellular damage leads to the full spectrum of conditions boilermakers develop, from asbestosis and pleural thickening to lung cancer and mesothelioma.
The Hidden Risk to Boilermaker Spouses and Children
Hazardous fibers clung to boilermakers’ work clothes, boots, hair, skin, tools and vehicle interiors. Spouses who handled the laundry faced heavy secondhand exposure. Children who greeted a parent at the door or rode in the family vehicle were also at risk of inhaling asbestos fibers. Family members are also at risk of asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma and lung cancer from take-home exposure.
Family Members at Highest Risk
- Children of boilermakers
- Other household members with regular contact with contaminated clothing or tools
- Spouses and partners who handled work laundry
Spouses and children of boilermakers may have separate legal claims of their own. Nemeroff Law represents both workers and their family members on independent claims. If you and your family lived with a boilermaker and received a mesothelioma diagnosis, our attorneys can help you explore your options for compensation to cover medical expenses, lost wages and other diagnosis-related costs.
Legal Options for Boilermakers and Their Families
Boilermakers and their families have multiple options for compensation and many people qualify for more than one. Because boilermakers worked with products from so many different manufacturers across decades, they often qualify for a longer list of trust funds than workers in other trades might.
Types of Compensation
- Asbestos trust funds: Many manufacturers that filed for bankruptcy set aside funds to pay future claims. Our attorneys identify every trust fund you qualify for. Trust fund claims often resolve in 30 to 90 days.
- Personal injury or wrongful death lawsuits: Your attorney files these claims against solvent companies. These claims can result in significant verdicts or settlements.
- VA benefits: Veterans like Navy boilermakers and shipyard workers with military exposure to asbestos can file for VA benefits.
- Workers’ compensation: Boilermakers with occupational disease claims tied to past employment may qualify.
Nemeroff Law takes every case on a contingency fee basis. There’s no upfront cost for you and your family. You’ll pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.
Explore your legal options now with a free case review
How Nemeroff Law Helps Boilermakers
The first step is a free consultation where an attorney reviews your diagnosis, work history and options. From there, litigation typically moves through filing, depositions and settlement negotiations over 12 to 18 months, with most clients receiving settlements without going to trial. Cases that proceed to verdict can take two to three years or more.
How We Help Our Boilermaker Clients
- We identify every asbestos trust fund you qualify for. Boilermakers often qualify for claims against many manufacturers whose products they handled across their careers.
- We file claims in parallel across all options, including trust funds, lawsuits, workers’ compensation and VA benefits.
- We gather evidence of your asbestos exposure history across jobsites, ships and product lines.
Our attorneys have recovered more than $650 million for people facing mesothelioma and their families. Getting started is a free, no-pressure conversation. You don’t need to have everything figured out before you reach out to us. Our attorneys can help you understand your options and take it from there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Boilermakers build, install, inspect, repair and dismantle boilers, pressure vessels and large steel containers that heat water and produce steam. They work in shipyards, power plants, refineries, factories and large commercial buildings, often in confined spaces like boiler rooms and ship engine rooms.
If you worked on boilers, steam systems or in confined boiler or engine rooms before the early 1980s, exposure is very likely. Common exposure tasks include:
-Cutting insulation
-Grinding refractory brick
-Mixing dry insulating cement
-Replacing rope packing and gaskets
Our investigators rebuild exposure history from work records, union records and ship deployment data. You don’t need to remember every product or employer.
Many large asbestos manufacturers filed for bankruptcy and set aside trust funds to pay current and future claims. Our attorneys identify every trust fund you qualify for. Boilermakers often qualify for several claims because of the wide range of products they handle. Trust fund claims often resolve in 30 to 90 days.
Yes. Spouses, children and other eligible family members can file a wrongful death claim on behalf of a boilermaker who died from mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease. Family members who developed a disease from take-home exposure may also have separate claims of their own.
Asbestos trust fund claims often resolve in 30 to 90 days. Personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits typically take several months to a few years, depending on the case and the parties involved. We file claims in parallel across all available paths, so you don’t have to wait on one before starting another.
D. Carl Money
D. Carl Money is a mesothelioma trial attorney and retired Army Lt. Col. licensed in TX, NY and the UK.