The story of asbestos exposure for many veterans doesn’t end when they leave military service. Skills acquired during their time in the armed forces often led veterans toward civilian careers in industries with significant asbestos use, shipyards, construction, automotive repair, manufacturing, and utilities. This post-military exposure compounded the risks veterans already faced from their service years, increasing their cumulative asbestos burden and elevating their chances of developing mesothelioma decades later. Understanding how civilian employment continued to expose veterans to asbestos is crucial for establishing comprehensive exposure histories, strengthening VA disability claims, and pursuing legal compensation against the companies responsible for post-service exposure. This guide examines the civilian industries and occupations that put veterans at continued risk and explains what this means for mesothelioma diagnosis and compensation.
The Skills Transfer That Became a Health Risk
Military service provided veterans with valuable technical skills highly sought after by civilian employers. Machinists, electricians, mechanics, welders, pipefitters, and construction workers who learned their trades in the military found ready employment in industries desperate for skilled labor during the post-war boom years. Unfortunately, these same industries relied heavily on asbestos materials throughout the 1960s, 70s, and even into the 80s and 90s in some cases.
According to Mesotheliomaveterans.org, this double exposure, military plus civilian, means many veterans accumulated asbestos fiber burdens over 30, 40, or even 50 years. The cumulative nature of asbestos exposure means each additional year of contact increased disease risk, and veterans who worked in high-risk civilian jobs after high-risk military service faced extraordinarily elevated mesothelioma rates.
Shipyards and Maritime Industries: Continuing the Navy Connection
Navy veterans who worked in shipboard mechanical roles during their service often continued in shipyard employment after discharge. Commercial shipyards, while no longer building military vessels, maintained heavy asbestos use well into the 1980s.
Commercial Shipyard Workers
Veterans employed at commercial shipyards faced exposure scenarios remarkably similar to their military experiences. Shipbuilding and ship repair involved extensive work with asbestos insulation on pipes, boilers, turbines, and throughout vessel structures. Jobs particularly hazardous included:
Shipfitters and Pipefitters: Installing and maintaining piping systems wrapped in asbestos insulation throughout commercial vessels.
Insulators: Specialized workers who directly applied asbestos insulation materials, facing the highest exposure levels in shipyards.
Welders: Working adjacent to asbestos insulation that released fibers when heated.
Electricians: Running cables through spaces lined with asbestos and working with asbestos-containing electrical components.
Major commercial shipyards across the United States, in cities like Seattle, San Diego, Newport News, Mobile, and New Orleans, employed thousands of veterans in asbestos-contaminated conditions. Many of these facilities have since closed, but their legacy of asbestos disease continues affecting veterans who worked there decades ago.
Merchant Marine and Tugboat Operations
Some veterans transitioned from Navy service to Merchant Marine careers or tugboat operations. Commercial vessels contained the same asbestos materials as military ships, and crew members faced similar exposure in engine rooms, boiler rooms, and throughout these vessels.
Construction Trades: Building America with Asbestos
The construction boom following World War II, continuing through the 1970s, created enormous demand for skilled tradespeople. Veterans with construction experience in the military found plentiful work, unaware that many building materials contained deadly asbestos.
Insulators and Pipefitters
Construction insulators and pipefitters faced some of the highest asbestos exposures in any industry. These workers directly handled asbestos pipe insulation, fitting it around heating, cooling, and plumbing systems in commercial buildings, schools, hospitals, and industrial facilities. Resources focused on veterans who worked in multiple asbestos-contaminated environments document numerous cases where veterans’ military and construction exposures combined to cause mesothelioma.
Electricians
Electrical work involved extensive contact with asbestos. Electrical panels used asbestos backing boards, cables were insulated with asbestos, and electricians routinely worked in spaces containing asbestos ceiling tiles, wall panels, and insulation. Running new wiring through existing buildings disturbed decades-old asbestos materials.
Carpenters and Drywall Installers
While perhaps less exposed than insulators or electricians, carpenters and drywall installers worked with asbestos-containing joint compounds, wall panels, and ceiling tiles. Cutting, sanding, and installing these materials released asbestos fibers. Many veterans recall clouds of white dust during drywall finishing work, dust that often contained asbestos.
Demolition Workers
Demolition work involved tearing down buildings constructed during peak asbestos use. Demolition crews faced acute, high-level exposures when destroying structures laden with asbestos insulation, tiles, roofing, and other materials. Safety protocols during the 1960s and 70s were minimal or nonexistent, and demolition workers often had no protective equipment.
Roofers
Roofing materials, shingles, felt, tar, and sealants, frequently contained asbestos. Roofers cutting, installing, or removing these materials inhaled asbestos fibers, particularly when removing old roofing during replacement projects.
Automotive and Heavy Equipment Mechanics
Military mechanics who worked on vehicles, aircraft, or heavy equipment often pursued similar civilian careers. Unfortunately, automotive work involved regular contact with asbestos brake and clutch components.
Brake Work: A Persistent Hazard
Brake pads and shoes in cars, trucks, and heavy equipment contained high percentages of asbestos through the 1980s and, in some aftermarket parts, even later. Mechanics performing brake jobs faced exposure through several pathways:
Brake Dust Cleaning: Standard practice involved blowing out brake dust using compressed air, creating clouds of asbestos-containing dust that mechanics breathed directly.
Grinding Brake Shoes: Adjusting or refinishing brake shoes created asbestos dust in poorly ventilated shop environments.
Clutch Replacement: Clutch discs also contained asbestos, and replacing clutches disturbed this material.
Information from veteran health organizations tracking occupational exposures indicates that automotive mechanics represent one of the largest groups of workers with significant post-employment asbestos exposure. Many veterans worked as mechanics for 20-40 years, performing countless brake jobs without adequate protection.
Power Plants and Utilities
Veterans with experience in boiler operations, electrical systems, or mechanical maintenance found employment at power plants, refineries, and utility companies. These facilities contained massive amounts of asbestos in boilers, turbines, pipes, electrical systems, and building structures.
Power Plant Operators and Mechanics
Power plants, whether coal-fired, oil-fired, or early nuclear facilities, relied extensively on asbestos for insulation and fireproofing. Maintenance workers repairing turbines, boilers, pipes, and associated equipment disturbed asbestos materials regularly. Boiler maintenance particularly involved removing old asbestos insulation and installing new materials, creating hazardous conditions similar to shipboard boiler work.
Utility Workers
Electric utility workers installed and maintained power distribution systems that used asbestos components in transformers, switches, and cables. Even linemen faced exposure from asbestos blankets used for electrical insulation during certain procedures.
Manufacturing and Industrial Facilities
Heavy industry, steel mills, chemical plants, refineries, paper mills, and manufacturing facilities, employed thousands of veterans in roles involving asbestos exposure.
Maintenance Mechanics and Millwrights
Industrial maintenance mechanics and millwrights installed, maintained, and repaired machinery insulated with asbestos. These workers faced exposures similar to their military counterparts working on ships or in base facilities, handling asbestos gaskets, packing, insulation, and associated materials.
Foundry Workers
Foundries used asbestos in protective clothing, molds, and furnace linings. Veterans working in foundries faced heat exposure necessitating asbestos protective equipment, plus environmental exposure from foundry operations.
Firefighting: Civilian Fire Departments
Military firefighters transitioning to civilian fire departments continued facing asbestos exposure from protective equipment, fire station buildings, and responding to structural fires in asbestos-containing buildings.
The Legal Implications of Dual Exposure
Understanding post-military asbestos exposure is crucial for several reasons, particularly regarding legal compensation. Resources explaining legal benefits and options for veterans emphasize that veterans can pursue compensation for both military and civilian exposures.
Separate Legal Claims
Veterans cannot sue the military or government for military asbestos exposure. However, they absolutely can sue the manufacturers of asbestos products they encountered in civilian employment. This means veterans with post-service occupational exposure may qualify for substantial compensation through:
Asbestos Lawsuits: Claims against companies that made asbestos products used in civilian industries.
Asbestos Trust Funds: Claims against bankruptcy trusts established by asbestos companies.
These compensation sources are completely separate from VA benefits. Veterans can, and should, pursue both simultaneously.
Exposure History Documentation
When filing legal claims, attorneys need comprehensive exposure histories documenting:
- All civilian employers and job sites
- Specific products and materials worked with
- Duration and intensity of exposure
- Witness statements from coworkers when possible
Veterans often focus solely on military exposure when diagnosed with mesothelioma, overlooking decades of civilian exposure that strengthens legal claims and may identify additional defendants and trust funds from which to seek compensation.
Impact on VA Disability Claims
While VA disability benefits require service-connected exposure, post-military occupational exposure still matters for VA claims. Detailed guidance from veteran mesothelioma resources explains that establishing comprehensive exposure history, including both military and civilian work, helps demonstrate the extent of asbestos contact and can support arguments for service connection when combined with military exposure.
Additionally, understanding total asbestos burden helps explain why mesothelioma developed, even in cases where military exposure alone might have been relatively brief or uncertain.
Protecting Future Generations
Today’s veterans transitioning to civilian careers face dramatically lower asbestos risks than their predecessors, thanks to regulations implemented in the 1980s and 90s. However, asbestos hasn’t been completely banned, and certain occupations still carry risks:
Building Renovation and Demolition: Older structures still contain asbestos that can be disturbed during renovation.
Automotive Brake Work: Some imported brake parts may still contain asbestos.
Overseas Deployments: Veterans deployed to developing countries may encounter asbestos in local buildings and materials.
Taking Action
Veterans who worked in high-risk civilian occupations after military service should:
- Inform physicians about both military and civilian asbestos exposure
- Document complete work history for potential legal claims
- Undergo regular medical screening if experiencing symptoms
- Consult with experienced mesothelioma attorneys about compensation options
- File VA claims based on service-connected exposure while pursuing civilian exposure legal claims
The combination of military and civilian asbestos exposure faced by many veterans represents a compounding tragedy, serving their country put them at initial risk, and the skills they learned in that service led them into civilian jobs that increased that risk further. Understanding this dual exposure pattern is essential for accessing all available compensation and benefits while honoring the full scope of sacrifice these veterans made, both during and after their military service.
