Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

Three men who worked at a DuPont plant in Argentina sued the chemical manufacturing company, after developing asbestosis, a lung disease caused by exposure to asbestos. The three former workers claim that DuPont failed to protect them from dangerous work conditions in which they were exposed to asbestos. 

 

Asbestos is a material that was commonly used as pipe insulation and in manufacturing industries due to its heat and fire resistant properties. Exposure to asbestos is now known to cause serious illnesses, such as mesothelioma, asbestosis and other asbestos related lung cancers. Development of the disease from first time of exposure can be decades.   The use of asbestos for commercial and industrial purposes has been banned since the 1980’s and many safety regulations now exist due to the dangerous risk to public health.

 

Although DuPont eliminated the use of asbestos in their nylon plants in the United States in the early 1970’s, the workers claim that asbestos was used in the overseas plant as recently as 2004. 

 

Most concerning in this case is the diagnosis of an asbestos related cancer in one of the workers, Cristian Dematei, who is only 35 years old.   Because of the long latency period between time of exposure and development of disease, asbestos related illnesses are usually not diagnosed until workers are in their late 60’s to 80’s. Dematei is among one of the youngest plaintiffs to file an asbestos lawsuit.