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The latest statistics show that between 1980 and 2000, over 8,000 men and over 1,000 women died from Mesothelioma. If someone in your family has been affected by this grave disease, you may be legally entitled to financial compensation to help cover your losses.
Chemical technicians perform laboratory tests to aid scientists in making analyses of solids, liquids, and gaseous materials. These technicians assist scientists in gathering information for research and development purposes. The research and development performed could be for a new product, quality control, or other experimental purposes. There is an estimated 65,000 chemical technicians employed in the United States. The top industries that offer employment for these technicians include Pharmaceutical, Chemical Manufacturing, and Scientific Research and Development. New Jersey and Pennsylvania are two states with the highest concentration of chemical technicians.
A chemical technician can play many roles and it largely depends on what industry the technician is working within. For example, a chemical technician in the food industry could work on food additives or flavorings. Technicians in the pharmaceutical industry could work on drug compositions. Chemical technicians in scientific research and development could work on an array of different tasks including testing properties of chemicals and innovating new products or technologies.
Chemical technicians are commonly working around hazardous substances. This means that exposures to these substances can and will happen. Unfortunately, asbestos; the contaminant causing Mesothelioma, Asbestosis, and lung cancer, has also been found to come across the work load of a chemical technician. If the technician was not aware or careful with the substance, he or she could easily have been exposed to the substance by inhaling asbestos fibers if they became airborne. He or she could have also brought these fibers home on the clothing worn during exposure to the contaminant. This could potentially endanger loved ones and family as well. Families of chemical workers have in the past won settlements due to this type of exposure. A middle aged man in North Carolina won a substantial settlement after he was exposed to asbestos by coming into contact with his father's work clothes. His father worked in a chemical factory and brought the fibers home on his clothing.
Unfortunately, a chemical technician's risk to asbestos is not limited to working directly with the contaminant. In fact, technicians must also worry about being contaminated when building, structure, and equipment repairs are occurring in the facility that they work in. Because asbestos was used so often in the past as a good insulator and heat resistance component, many buildings and facilities today still unknowingly contain asbestos. A chemical technician must make sure that he or she follows the proper safety precautions if repairs or modifications are being performed in the laboratory or facility.