Will welding rod disease become the next asbestosis?

That’s becoming a hot topic in the medical and legal communities, following an Illinois jury’s verdict last fall that established a legal link between the inhalation of welding fumes and Parkinson’s disease, a neurological disorder.

Medical research is turning up some unhealthy effects from welding fumes. Those findings, along with the Illinois case, have hit the radar of the lawyer community, and legal actions against welding material suppliers have mushroomed in recent months. The issue hit the pages of Forbes Magazine in February, which said, “Welding has the potential to be the next asbestos – meaning an avalanche of product liability suits and big fees (for lawyers) for years to come.”

Dr. Michael Harbut is assistant professor of internal medicine at Wayne State University and co-founder of the Karmonos Cancer Foundation’s Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine. He has studied asbestosis cases for years and has seen the research on welding fumes.

“There’s no doubt, people do get sick from welding fumes,” Harbut said. “But it’s important that people who feel they might have the disease see a neurologist or an occupational disease specialist for a diagnosis, before they see a lawyer.

“I have a pro-patient attitude, and it’s completely appropriate for people who are afflicted to make sure that those who are poisoning others can’t do it any more. But I’m particularly concerned that any legal action take place after the appropriate diagnosis and follow-up.”

The renewed look at the effects of welding fumes sprung from a court case last October, when a jury in Illinois awarded a $1 million verdict to a man who said he developed Parkinson’s disease after years of breathing fumes from welding.

According to lawyers in the case, the jury ruled that welding-rod manufacturers were responsible for failing to warn the 65-year-old plaintiff about potential health problems. The plaintiff said he used rods made and sold by major companies across the country. The companies argued that there has been no link established between welding fumes and Parkinson’s.

The fallout from the case has been far-reaching. Shares fell 8 percent on a big British company that supplies industrial gases, BOC Group, which was a defendant in the Illinois case and in 80 similar pending cases. Two U.S. welding suppliers, Lincoln-Electric and Hobart Brothers, were also defendants in the Illinois case.

According to the Forbes article, the Illinois case changed the legal landscape for welding fume litigation. “Lawyers have been suing these manufacturers for 15 years or so, claiming their heated rods produce toxic manganese fumes that have given their clients Parkinson’s disease or similarly debilitating neurological disorders. The cases were mostly tossed out – the medical link is sketchy so far,” Forbes said. Then… “Jackpot! The victory sparked a flood of suits, attracting big-time class action lawyers.”

An estimated 4,000 welding fume cases have been filed in state and federal courts. Business owners fear that this will turn into another expensive asbestosis situation, where corporations that have only partially been involved in welding rod manufacturing will get sued. Just like in tobacco and asbestosis cases, the justification for the lawsuits is that the companies knew their products harm workers, but didn’t do anything about it.

“There’s a large population that’s been exposed, and I think we’re talking aggregate damages way in excess of a billion dollars,” said a Cleveland-based plaintiff attorney.

WELDING FUMES' effects on welders will be the subject of continuing medical studies.