Bricklayers and Asbestos Exposure

Overview

Bricklayers and masons faced asbestos exposure from refractory materials, mortar additives, and working in industrial environments with extensive asbestos insulation. Refractory bricklaying in furnaces, kilns, and boilers involved particularly high exposure to asbestos-containing materials.

Asbestos in Masonry Materials

How Bricklayers Were Exposed

Refractory Work

The highest exposure occurred during refractory bricklaying:

• Mixing dry refractory mortar (heavy dust generation)
• Installing brick in furnaces, kilns, and boilers
• Working inside confined industrial equipment
• Removing deteriorated refractory material

General Masonry

Standard masonry work also involved exposure:

• Using mortar with asbestos additives
• Working near other trades disturbing asbestos
• Building structures that would receive asbestos insulation

Work Environments

Bricklayers faced exposure building and repairing refractories in steel mills across Pennsylvania and Indiana, including blast furnaces and ladles; power plants building and rebricking boilers; foundries casting metal; ceramic and glass plants lining kilns; and general construction projects. Between 1940 and 1980, refractory bricklayers handled mortars and gunning mixes from Johns Manville and Kaiser Aluminum that contained chrysotile and amosite asbestos.

Related Occupations

Bricklayers worked alongside:

• Boilermakers, Boiler construction
• Furnace workers, Industrial furnaces
• Laborers, Material handling
• Hod carriers, Material supply
• Insulators, Industrial insulation

Health Consequences

Bricklayers face elevated risk of mesothelioma, a cancer of the chest or abdominal lining; asbestosis, a progressive scarring of the lungs; lung cancer, with risk multiplied among smokers; and pleural disease that thickens the lining around the lungs.

When the Record Caught Up

Millions of American workers have been exposed to asbestos since the early 1940s, the National Cancer Institute reports, and the agency counts insulation work in the construction and building trades among the settings where health hazards from asbestos fibers are recognized. Asbestos strengthened cement and served as insulation, fireproofing, and sound absorption throughout construction. OSHA now addresses the material through separate standards for construction and general industry, requiring employers to monitor personal exposure and train workers wherever it might be disturbed. The agency states that no level of asbestos exposure is safe for any fiber type, and that every occupational exposure contributes to the risk of asbestos-related disease. The refractory work described above sat squarely inside that hazard for decades, and it’s why the record matters now.

Legal Options

Bricklayers diagnosed with mesothelioma typically pursue several tracks in parallel. Refractory-material manufacturers such as Johns Manville and Eagle-Picher established asbestos trust funds through bankruptcy reorganization. Trust claims often run alongside product-liability suits against solvent refractory manufacturers, premises-liability claims against facility owners, VA benefits for military service exposure, and workers’ compensation through a former employer.