Railroad Lawsuit - Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Railroad workers can be exposed to a variety of carcinogenic chemicals, such as diesel exhaust fumes, welding fumes, and chemical solvents. This can cause various diseases including non-Hodgkin's lupus.
A lawyer from the railroad industry can help you determine whether your condition is linked to exposure to work, and also seek compensation for medical expenses and discomfort and pain.
Benzene
Benzene is among the most widely used chemical compounds. It is a white, colorless yellow liquid with a pleasant odor which quickly evaporates into atmosphere. It is utilized in degreasers, dyes pesticides, solvents, lubricants, plastics and resins. It is also present in crude oil. Long-term exposure to benzene may cause bone marrow damage and leukemia, in addition to other blood-related diseases. It can also trigger convulsions, heartbeat changes and liver disease, as well as decrease fertility in a person.
Railroad workers are at a higher risk of developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, myelodysplastic disorder and multiple myeloma due exposure to benzene. This is especially applicable to those who worked near locomotives or in the railroad shop where they could have been exposed to diesel exhaust. People who were exposed to coal tar creosote, which is a wood preservative, may be at risk of benzene exposure as well.
The personal representative of a BNSF employee who died of leukemia filed 27 lawsuits, with eight in 2018. The plaintiff worked for the railway company for many years. She worked as hostler at the yard in Alliance, Nebraska for 33 years. She was exposed to diesel exhaust and other toxic chemicals when working on cars, locomotives and rail ties. She also worked with benzene based chemicals like Liquid Wrench as an agent for breaking bolts.
Glyphosate
Glyphosate, an herbicide that is widely used is employed by railroad workers in order to get rid of weeds that grow on tracks and around stations. However exposure to this chemical can be risky and could cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma as well as other serious health issues. If you've been exposed to the chemical glyphosate, and then you develop non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, an railroad accident lawyer can help you seek compensation from the business who harmed you.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization has classified glyphosate as a possible cancerous substance. The chemical works by targeting a protein in plants called shikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS). This blocks EPSPS from generating its own natural product which is a building block of proteins. The glyphosate is able to bind with EPSPS, destroying its structure. It also prevents the EPSPS from performing its normal functions, which could cause cell death.
In the short term glyphosate can cause diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and skin irritation. In extreme instances exposure to glyphosate might cause death. The herbicide is used on a range of crops such as soybeans, corn oilseeds, grains, and certain vegetables and fruits. Rainwater and surface runoff may also contain glyphosate. Due to its widespread use consumers frequently consume trace amounts of glyphosate.
Asbestos
Railroad workers are exposed to many dangerous substances, such as diesel fumes, benzene, asbestos, coal dust, creosote and silica. These carcinogens can cause lung cancer, cancer, and other health issues. Federal law allows current, former and retired rail employees to sue their employers when they're diagnosed with medical conditions related to their job exposures.
For a long time asbestos was a significant element of the railroad industry. Numerous railroad workers were exposed to the dangerous material. A lawyer for asbestos exposure in the railroad industry could review your medical records as well as workplace records to determine if your condition was mesothelioma, or another illness due to on-the-job asbestos exposure.
A train conductor has filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern over Hodgkin lymphoma and claims that Norfolk Southern failed to safeguard him from exposure to toxic chemicals. Bladder cancer lawsuit that the railroad company violated FELA regulations by failing to protect workers from asbestos and other harmful materials and also failing to monitor workers' exposure to dangerous chemicals.
The lawsuit states that the work of a conductor on trains included handling and operating railroad machinery. The lawsuit also claims that the railroad used weedkillers to maintain right-of-way spaces, which led to exposure to glyphosate which is a harmful herbicide which can cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma as well as other diseases. A jury handed the plaintiff one million dollars in compensation damages.
Second-Hand Smoke
Many railroad workers have been diagnosed with cancer and other chronic illnesses because of the harmful chemicals they were exposed to each day. Railroad employees who suffer from cancer or other maladies because of their exposure to carcinogenic substances can file lawsuits under FELA against their former employers.
Leukemia lawsuit from Pennsylvania who worked as a railroad employee, filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania against his former employers alleging that he developed cancerous kidneys as the result of being exposed to carcinogens for a period that spanned nearly 40 years. He claimed that he was exposed asbestos, vinyl chloride as well as other hazardous substances every day when working for various railroad companies in the Philadelphia region.
Another railroad worker filed a lawsuit claiming that his position as a railroad worker was a contributing factor to lung cancer and other serious diseases. He worked for CSX Transportation, Inc. for 20 years as a worker and was exposed to toxins, such as diesel exhaust and secondhand smoke. He also handled railroad ties that were coated in Creosote, a chemical.
Despite cancer lawsuit of smoking secondhand being well-known for a long time, some railroads took a long time to ban smoking in the cabs of locomotives. Smoking secondhand has been linked with a variety of diseases and cancers including asthma and bronchitis.