Policemen and women who work
- In local police departments
- In county sheriff’s offices
- As state highway patrols
- For federal law enforcement agencies
- As private security officers
—may be subjected to asbestos cancer many times during their years of service to their communities.
Asbestos in the Air
Asbestos cancer is a frequent risk at the scene of events such as building fires, vehicle collisions and fires, and natural disasters, as well as on the streets and highways for traffic police. Any time that an asbestos-containing material is disturbed, there is a risk of asbestos fibers being released into the air, where personnel in the area may inhale them. Policemen and women are often present at locations with dangerously high levels of asbestos. The result may be lung cancer or mesothelioma cancer.
Asbestos in Buildings and Vehicles
Asbestos is present in literally thousands of products in millions of buildings throughout the United States, and in many vehicle brake and clutch systems. The concentration of asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral, is normally low and safe in our environment, but when building components are disturbed in a fire, bombing, or natural disaster, the asbestos may rapidly rise to toxic levels.
9-11, Oklahoma City, Hurricane Katrina
A well-known example is the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks on September 11, 2001. Police officers were among the very first on the scene after these buildings were damaged, and the asbestos release into the air that day has already resulted in thousands of cases of respiratory disease among policemen, women and other 9-11 first-responders.
The same is true of the policemen and women who responded to the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, and at the scenes of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita in 2005 in Louisiana and Mississippi, respectively.
Any disaster — an earthquake, a tornado, a flood — brings out the policemen and women who have sworn to protect and serve their communities. Other police officers spend hours standing in traffic that may be exposing them to a cancer risk from asbestos.
Policemen with Asbestos Cancer Diseases
If you are a police officer and you have mesothelioma cancer, lung cancer, asbestosis or another asbestos cancer disease, contact mesothelioma treatment centers today to discuss your circumstances and learn about your legal rights.
