welding fume litigation

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Emmo 20 years ago

Friday's Wall Street Journal had an article (excerpted below) that described welding fume litigation as being the next asbestos issue. You will recall that asbestos litigation drove a number of large vendors into bankruptcy.

The article went on to say that Lincoln Electric, as just one of the plaintiff companies at risk, has over 8000 (!!) cases already filed against it.

The defendants' case is that welding fumes cause Parkinson's disease. The article did point out that nearly 10% of the defendants had also filed asbestosis suits...

This issue has the potential to significantly affect the welding industry, welding products and processes, and the companies and suppliers in this field. We all need to start paying attention.

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Welding-Fumes Suits Raise Specter of Costly Liabilities

By GREGORY ZUCKERMAN and TIMOTHY AEPPEL Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL July 29, 2005; Page C1

"First it was asbestos. Will welding fumes be next?

A federal court in Cleveland indicated Sunday that it will allow lawsuits to go forward alleging that fumes from welding products caused workers to develop Parkinson's disease, a debilitating neurological malady. The situation -- somewhat reminiscent of asbestos litigation brought by those who contracted mesothelioma -- raises the possibility of costly legal liabilities for companies involved in making and distributing welding materials. Still, any costs are unlikely to approach those from asbestos and defendants will still be able to challenge any evidence purporting to link the fumes and Parkinson's when individual lawsuits are heard.

Companies have long argued that it is hard to pinpoint the genesis of neurological diseases such as Parkinson's, making it difficult for plaintiffs to prove that these maladies were caused by manganese, a metal used in rods and wires that has been recognized as unhealthy if its fumes are inhaled.

"It is definitely a significant ruling," says Sigurd Sorenson, a lawyer at Clifford Chance US LLP in New York who has defended companies that were involved in asbestos and silica litigation. "Plaintiffs can make the argument that there is a connection between fumes and Parkinson's, and that gives plaintiffs a lot of leverage" to potentially pursue financial settlements.

Welding-fumes cases have become an issue in the legal community, with lawyers placing ads to find workers with potential exposure. Plaintiffs' attorneys say there are abut 10,000 current suits alleging neurological injuries from welding fumes and an estimated 500,000 or more workers with current, or past, exposure to welding fumes. If the problems even come close to those caused by asbestos, shares will suffer. Many companies that had even remote dealings with asbestos have faced heavy legal liabilities from suits related to alleged asbestos-related maladies."

__ "All it took was all I had..."

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Andrew H. Wakefield 20 years ago

I know this has been discussed here before ... but is it safe to assume that any worries of this sort apply to people who weld all day everyday, as opposed to a hobbiest who is lucky to weld an hour or two per week?

I always am a little concerned when the rare chance comes along and I am able to get out to the shop for several hours (this afternoon/evening was one of those rare times). Even though much of the time is cutting, shaping, fitting, etc., it seems like even after I shower I still keep smelling the welding rods -- maybe something that's left in my nose?? I try to keep my face out of the fumes, but some goes up my nose anyway.

If I could find a P-100 mask that would fit under a welding hood, would that eliminate the manganese and/or other nasties? What about when I'm welding something that has some paint on it--even if I grind off the paint back from the weld zone, I still get some stink. (Example: I recycled a frame from a dead treadmill -- nice 1x2 tubing -- powder coat finish, I think. Smells plastic-y when it gets too hot.)

Finally, on a less serious note, anybody want to join me in making the case that there is some sort of addictive chemical in the fumes? I'm assuming there has to be an explanation for why I continue to want to weld even after seeing these kinds of warnings! (Hmmm -- I would be smelling another lawsuit, except right now I'm mostly still smelling welding smoke ... :)

Andy

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dcaster 20 years ago

I thought the percentage also filing asbestosis suits was higher than

10%.

Dan

Emmo wrote:

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Dave Mundt 20 years ago

Found a couple of references to class action suits with over

10,000 claimants. On the other hand, this is kind of like the process of "charge expansion" that prosecutors do, adding every little charge they can to the list against a defendant, so as to make them look even more evil than they are.

Kind of like smoking, this should not come as a surprise to anyone. I was ALWAYS told that the fumes from welding were really nasty and to be safe I should avoid breathing them. I would be surprised if there were any welders that did hot hear this a number of times in the process of learning to weld.

Yea, and the really annoying thing is that the end results of these suits will likely be that the the lawyers will be driving new Mercedes, and the poor smuck who has burned his life away fixing things forother people will end up with nothing. Much money will be burned in the process of wrestling over the issue, and NOTHING will be done to find a way to solve it! I suspect, too, that we will see the cost of EVERYTHING that requires welding for its assembly to go up sharply, because the welding supply companies and the comapnines emplying welders are going to tack on the costs of dealing with this to the cost of their product. perhaps we should go back to nothing but OA welding - since all the problems seem to be associated with arc welding. Or..perhaps we should bite the bullet, admit that life IS dangerous, and do what we can to provide adequate ventilation to minimize the risk. Of course, we could also put artificial limits on the amount of time a welder can work - forcing them to retire after 2 decades or so. There are no easy answers, but, this continuing trend of Americans to whine that "it isn't MY fault...somebody ELSE has to pay" and the lawyers that promote these suits for their own profit really get on my last nerve. Regards Dave Mundt

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