Aeronautical Engineers

Aeronautical engineers apply their engineering background, training and expertise to the research and building of aircrafts, missiles and space satellites. Typically an aeronautical engineer, who is educated and trained in aeronautical or aerospace engineering, works with a team of engineers to perfect their product. Aeronautical engineers typically work in the aerospace industry, for various government departments, defense agencies, research, regulations or airlines.

Four Fields of Aeronautical Engineering

There are four fields that an aeronautical engineer might enter, and those are design, maintenance, manufacture or research. Depending on your involvement in any of those areas, your risk of asbestos exposure can vary. The design side of aeronautical engineering has a lower risk level than someone who is in the maintenance side.

Engineers in the aeronautical field are at greater risk of environmental contamination if they work in the capacity of retrofitting aircrafts. Some people think the risk of an aeronautical engineer is in the test flight, but it really is in the maintenance of the aircraft because of the risk of exposure to asbestos. As more aircrafts become modernized and no longer contain asbestos, the risk of exposure will decrease.

Asbestos and Aircrafts

Asbestos was used in aircrafts because of its lightweight and fire retardant capabilities. When maintenance is being performed around an aircraft's engine, fuel tank, brake shoes, clutch pads or anywhere asbestos may have been used as insulation or for friction, the aeronautical engineer may be exposed to asbestos dust.

A bachelor's degree in science and engineering takes approximately four years to complete, while post grad work can be done in about two to three years. While an aeronautical engineer will learn a lot about engineering during his studies, he or she may not learn about the hidden hazards of asbestos, so it will be up to individuals to ensure their safety and take necessary precautions on the job.

Risks at Work

While some occupations, such as firefighter, flagman, or hockey player, are associated with obvious and well-known dangers, people generally understand that many jobs present a chance for work-related injuries. Still, in America today, we expect that on-the-job hazards will be kept to a minimum, risks will be clearly communicated, and companies will make every effort to create a safe workplace. Unfortunately, even in recent history, these expectations were not always met when it came to exposure to asbestos, and people were placed in situations that placed their health at risk.

Asbestos and Its Health Effects

Asbestos is divided into two categories. Chrysotile, or "white" asbestos, is the sole mineral of the serpentine category and was the kind most frequently used. This is a relatively soft form that is usually not associated with asbestos cancer or mesothelioma. Abrasions on the interior surfaces of the lungs can happen when serpentine fibers are breathed in, however. Asbestosis may then be the outcome when abrasions build up in the pulmonary system.

The second category is known as amphibole asbestos and is considered more deadly. A somewhat uncommon, but often deadly, disease linked to asbestos called mesothelioma is linked to exposure to asbestos, especially the amphibole varieties. The pleural variety of the disease, which attacks the tissue that lies between the lungs and the pleural cavity, is the most prevalent. Less common forms of mesothelioma include pericardial and peritoneal mesothelioma; these cancers are also caused by extensive contact with amphibole asbestos.

Why It Was Used

Ironically, asbestos was used in building construction and in numerous products due to its ability to save lives. In terms of insulating against fire and heat, very few things can equal asbestos, particularly chrysotile. In addition, the amphibole varieties possessed other useful qualities. Amosite, for instance, has a high iron content, making it impervious to caustic chemicals. "Blue" asbestos, or crocidolite, was commonly utilized around electrical equipment because of its resistance to electrical current. Asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) that protected people against combustion, high temperatures, electrical contact and chemical burns could be made by combining multiple kinds of fibers.

As a rule, new items made with ACMs were considered innocuous if the asbestos fibers were encapsulated in something solid. However, as ACMs aged, they were prone to becoming friable, or able to be reduced to powder by hand pressure alone. Friable asbestos is a problem since in this form the fibers can be readily dispersed in the air, where they can cause health problems after they are inhaled or ingested. Asbestos fibers that landed on employees' skin, hair, or clothing could also place others at risk unless effective decontamination protocols, including the use of on-site uniforms and showers, were followed.

Asbestos Exposure - a Hidden Danger

Asbestos-related diseases, as opposed to typical job-related injuries, which are readily observed and known about immediately following the incident, can take ten, twenty, or even thirty years to appear. With such a lag time between asbestos exposure and the onset of symptoms, a worker may not even connect his or her current health problem with work he or she did decades earlier. Experimental methods for treating mesothelioma are being developed, and early detection gives the patient and his or her doctor the highest chance to combat the previously deathly form of cancer. Folks that worked as aeronautical engineers, and those who spent much time with them, should therefore inform their health care professionals about the chance of exposure to asbestos. Although mesothelioma survival rate is known to be grim, yet early diagnosis and consistent treatments like mesothelioma radiation can improve the prognosis for this disease.

Sources

Bowker, Michael. Fatal Deception: The Untold Story of Asbestos (New York: Touchstone, 2003)

Connexions Direct - Aerospace Engineering Technician
http://www.connexions-direct.com/jobs4U/index.cfm?pid=48&catalogueContentID=166&render=detailedArticle

The Institute of Engineers (India) - Development of Asbestos Free Brake Pad
http://www.ieindia.org/publish/mc/0404/apr04mc3.pdf

Ring Surf - Articles, Write, Health, Asbestos, Asbestos Removal
http://www.ringsurf.com/online/2065-asbestos_removal.html

Studying Science Engineering and Technology Worldwide - Why Aeronautical Engineering
http://www.science-engineering.net/aeronautical_engineering.htm

University of Wisconsin - Asbestos Containing Material (ACM) - Laboratories and Shops
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/EHSRM/ASB/acmimages3.html

University of Wisconsin - Asbestos Disposal
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/EHSRM/HAZEXCEPTIONS/a.html