Asbestos in Cooling Towers
Concerned that the asbestos from cooling tower material could cause asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma? Learn more below.
What are cooling towers?
Cooling towers are used in power plants and other heavy heat generating facilities to extract waste heat from water. The resulting stream of saturated exhaust air, or plume, would rise up through the cooling tower stack and be released into the atmosphere. As the plume flowed out of the tower, the cooled liquid would then collect in a cold water basin below to be pumped back through the process to absorb more heat over and over.
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Droplets of water, or drift, are drawn up through the cooling tower and discharged into the air along with the heat waste. These water droplets and humidified air contained as many impurities and toxins as the water within the unit.
Asbestos exposure from cooling towers
Because of its heat resisting and on conductive properties, asbestos was used as fill in the material used to make cooling towers. In the late 1980s, the EPA called for the removal, redesign and replacement of any cooling towers that use asbestos fill. But the damage may have already been done. The superheated water picked up asbestos on its way up the stack, causing the air around the towers to become contaminated and possibly hazardous.
And the danger from asbestos continues today. EPA-mandated demolition and replacement of asbestos-containing cooling towers is releasing even more asbestos fibers into the air.
If you worked at a nuclear, hydroelectric, or other type of power plant, or on the demolition of old cooling towers, you may have been exposed to asbestos, the precursor to mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.
Long term exposure to any form of asbestos can increase the risk of lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, asbestosis, as well as malignant mesothelioma, a rare but deadly form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure. Often mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases take decades to appear, so victims may not even be aware that they have been exposed to asbestos until it’s too late.
Mesothelioma attorneys may be able to help
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or any other asbestos-related disease from workplace or home exposure to asbestos, contact an experienced mesothelioma lawyer immediately. Mesothelioma attorneys have helped thousands of mesothelioma patients win compensation for lost wages and medical costs.