Asbestos case ‘proves low-level exposure can be fatal’

Posted 25/11/2009

A family which won a compensation claim following their mother’s death have issued a reminder of the danger of low-level exposure to the substance.

Karen Sienkiewicz, daughter of mesothelioma victim Enid Costello, stated that work in an industrial environment is not necessary to be at risk of -related illness.

This comes after Ms Costello contracted the deadly lung cancer after being subjected to low-level exposure while employed by Van Leer UK, reports the Birkenhead News.

The employer, now known as Greif UK, initially rejected the family’s compensation claim as the victim was never in direct contact with spores.

However, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the plaintiffs, stating that the company was responsible for Ms Costello’s death.

Ms Sienkiewicz said: “As this case has so clearly proved, it is not always necessary … to have a high level of exposure to to have contracted this terrible disease.”

This comes after trade unions such as GMB and the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians called for sufferers of pleural plaques, another -related condition linked to mesothelioma, to be given the right to make compensation claims.