The Louisville and Jefferson County metro area is home to a population exceeding 1.2 million residents, an area that borders Kentucky and southern Indiana. While the city has gained national prominence for serving as the home of the Kentucky Derby, Louisville is also home to significant industry and manufacturing.

From providing nearly one-third of the world’s bourbon whiskey to Louisville’s importance to the shipping industry, Louisville has an illustrious industrial tradition to call its own. These developments, however, have caused Louisville’s Jefferson County to suffer from more asbestos-related deaths than any other Kentucky county by a more than 4 to 1 ratio.

Why Is Asbestos Exposure Harmful?

Asbestos is highly durable, as well as naturally resistant to heat, flame and chemicals. These properties make asbestos a seemingly natural fit for industrial applications, and asbestos was indeed used regularly at industrial and manufacturing jobsites for many years.

This practice changed once it became clear that asbestos can become toxic to human health when asbestos-containing materials are disturbed, releasing the mineral’s microscopic fibers into the air. Those microscopic fibers can then be inhaled by individuals nearby who are exposed, which can cause the following diseases:

• Asbestosis
• Asbestos-related lung cancer
• Mesothelioma

This discovery led to the ban of asbestos in the 1970s, but that has not stopped each of these diseases from claiming thousands of lives. In fact, mesothelioma in particular continues to claim thousands of lives each and every year nationwide.

While it may not make sense at first glance how asbestos is still causing so much harm decades after its ban, this seeming inconsistency is explained by the long latency period of pleural mesothelioma. An asbestos exposure decades ago can lead to a pleural mesothelioma diagnosis today, with evidence now showing that an initial asbestos inhalation may not result in a mesothelioma diagnosis until 50 years have passed.

The process begins once asbestos lines the lungs, and the cancer progresses rapidly once asbestos turns otherwise healthy cells into cancerous mesothelioma. The disease is incredibly deadly, as just 10% of pleural mesothelioma patients survive more than five years after receiving a pleural mesothelioma diagnosis.

Known Asbestos Exposure in Louisville

It is estimated that nearly 500 lives have been lost in Louisville’s Jefferson County because of asbestos-related illnesses between 1999 and 2013. This figure is more than quadruple the toll taken on the 2nd-most impacted Kentucky county.

Known jobsites that exposed Louisville workers to asbestos and contributed to these devastating findings include:

• American Air Filter
• American Medicinal Spirits Corp
• Ballard and Ballard Company
• Bernheim Distilling Company
• Dow Corning Chemical
• Ford Motor Company
• Fort Knox
• Girdler Corporation
• Louisville Power Plant
• Old Kentucky Distillery
• University of Louisville

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma in Louisville, talk to a Louisville mesothelioma lawyer to explore your legal options.

Talk to a Louisville Mesothelioma Lawyer

At The Ledger Law Firm, we help mesothelioma victims receive compensation and justice for a mesothelioma diagnosis that was caused by a legally responsible party.

Contact us online today to explore your legal options and receive the funds to which you are legally entitled by law.