Is welding fume litigation "the next asbestos?"

Is welding fume litigation "the next asbestos?"

All over the place, we see stories about lawsuits launced against welding manufacturers over the effects of fumes. The core issue is this: do welding fumes, said to contain manganese fumes released when you're welding cause damage to your central nervous system? Lawyers for the plaintiffs -- and there are thousands of plaintiffs -- think so. The billions in potential damages guarantee that we'll see lawsuits across the spectrum. But that doesn't mean that manganese fumes aren't causing the symptons some welders are seeing, which are often like Parkinson's disease.

According to the Washington Post, 10,000 suits have been filed and another 50,000 will follow. With half a million current and former welders in this country, we'll be hashing this out for years.

But if you pick up a welder every day for a living, what does it mean to you? I mean, who cares what it means to the manufacturers and trial lawyers. The core issue is this: Are you safe doing this work? My answer is that I don't know. But as this thing goes forward, we'll all have the opportunity to find out.