Secondary asbestos exposure seen as cause of Maryland woman?s death
According to a report in the Atlanta Constitution-Journal, Georgia-Pacific continued to sell joint compounds laden with asbestos in the 1960s and 1970s although its leaders understood the serious health problems caused by asbestos. The company also told consumers that the joint compound in question, Ready-Mix, was safe—even as it knew that the government was preparing to ban such products due to their danger.
Internal Georgia-Pacific documents were obtained through the recent case of a Maryland woman, Lisa Pransky, who suffered asbestos exposure at the age of eight. Her father was then renovating the basement of the Pransky home, and Ready-Mix was among his materials in the project.
Pransky, who often observed her father working in the basement, was exposed to asbestos dust generated by sanding. Asbestos dust was also picked up by the ventilation system and spread throughout the house. At age 34, Pransky died of mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure. The case of Lisa Pransky is an example of secondary asbestos exposure, since she never worked with or handled it. A jury in Montgomery County, Maryland agreed, awarding her and her family $9.2 in damages in 2001.