Occupational Diseases Linked to the Railroad Industry

Occupational diseases in railroad work develop gradually, as workers spend years in environments saturated with diesel exhaust, dust, noise, and other stressors that rarely cause immediate injury but steadily damage the body.

NIOSH estimates that over a million U.S. workers, including those in the railroad sector, are occupationally exposed to diesel exhaust, which is recognized as a significant health concern because it contributes to respiratory disease and lung cancer.

In one landmark cohort of 55,407 U.S. railroad workers, researchers documented elevated lung cancer mortality in jobs associated with diesel locomotives, illustrating how long-term exposure inside cabs, yards, and shops can lead to serious disease decades later.

Similar patterns appear with dust: track repair and maintenance positions have been recognized as high-risk silica jobs, as workers who disturb ballast rock can create dense silica dust clouds.

Noise is another slow-building hazard; NIOSH surveillance data show that about 12% of noise-exposed transportation and warehousing workers have material hearing impairment and around 7% report tinnitus, highlighting how constant engine and equipment noise can permanently affect hearing.

For many railroad employees, these exposures overlap, creating a cumulative burden that drives chronic lung disease, hearing loss, and other occupational illnesses.

The risk is amplified in enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces, where diesel particulate, welding fumes, and solvent vapors can concentrate to levels that irritate the airways and eyes long before a formal diagnosis is made.

Asbestos fibers from older locomotives, brakes, and insulation add another layer of harm, contributing to non-cancerous conditions like asbestosis and pleural disease that may remain undetected for years.

When these physical hazards combine with irregular schedules, chronic fatigue, and exposure to traumatic events on the tracks, the result is a broad spectrum of occupational diseases that rarely stem from one incident but instead from a long pattern of preventable exposures.

Chemical and Particulate Exposures

Workers on the railroad are routinely surrounded by a wide range of harmful substances, from exhaust fumes in locomotive cabs to dust, solvents, and industrial chemicals in yards and shops.

Over years of constant exposure, these hazardous chemicals and particulates accumulate in the body, often producing serious illnesses long after the work was performed.

Common hazardous substances railroad workers are exposed to include:

• Diesel exhaust / diesel fuel emissions including diesel particulate matter (DPM), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), benzene, and other combustion byproducts.
• Solvents, degreasers, and cleaning agents often containing benzene, toluene, xylene, and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
• Asbestos insulation and components: Asbestos fibers were used historically in insulation, brake shoes, gaskets, and engine parts.
• Silica dust / ballast and mineral dust, created during track maintenance, ballast replacement, and other ground-level work.
• Heavy metals and metallic particulates from welding, metal-on-metal wear (for example brake wear dust), and maintenance of rail cars and equipment.
• Corrosive substances and industrial raw materials: Acids, solvents, and other chemicals involved in rail maintenance or transported cargo, some of which may leak or be released during switching, loading/unloading, or repair.

Physical and Environmental Stressors

Railroad workers face a demanding physical environment where constant exposure to vibration, noise, heavy force, and extreme outdoor conditions steadily contributes to chronic occupational illnesses.

These are not hazardous chemicals, yet they play a major role in long-term musculoskeletal disorders, hearing loss, fatigue-related injuries, and mobility limitations.

Transportation safety data show that railroad occupations consistently rank among the nation’s highest for noise, ergonomic strain, and overexertion injuries due to the physical structure of the work itself.

Notable physical stressors include:

• Whole-body vibration from locomotives, heavy machinery, and long hours seated or standing on moving equipment
• Excessive noise from engines, horns, tampers, grinders, and coupling operations
• Repetitive, forceful motions during track maintenance, lifting, climbing, and tool operation
• Uneven ballast and unstable terrain that strain joints, hips, knees, and lower back
• Extreme temperatures and weather exposure that increase fatigue, fall risk, and cardiovascular stress

Whole-body vibration is especially damaging, accelerating spinal disc degeneration and chronic back pain in engineers, conductors, and maintenance crews.

Track workers experience another set of hazards as prolonged lifting, bending, and tool vibration interact with uneven ballast underfoot.

Noise exposure is equally significant; the CDC reports that 22 million U.S. workers operate in hazardous noise environments each year, with transportation workers facing some of the highest long-term risks for hearing impairment and tinnitus.

Environmental stress (heat, cold, ice, and long outdoor shifts) intensifies fatigue and increases the likelihood of falls, overexertion, and repetitive-motion injuries.

Over a career, these forces can combine to produce degenerative spine disease, joint deterioration, chronic hearing loss, and persistent pain conditions that rarely develop overnight but steadily reshape a worker’s health and mobility.

Railroad workers are routinely exposed to a mix of physical hazards and toxic substances that gradually affect the lungs, hearing, joints, and overall health in ways that are often overlooked during their working years.

Even when some safety protocols exist, long-term contact with diesel exhaust, chemical solvents, silica dust, metal particulates, and other railroad toxins creates an increased risk of developing serious non-cancer conditions.

Many of these diseases emerge slowly, presenting first as shortness of breath, persistent pain, sleep disruption, or high blood pressure before progressing into more disabling forms of chronic illness.

Others arise from the cumulative toll of vibration, noise, extreme temperatures, and demanding physical labor that define railroad operations.

When symptoms appear, they often require extensive medical care, yet the connection to years of occupational exposure is not always immediately recognized.

The sections that follow examine these non-cancer occupational diseases in detail and explain how long-term exposure to toxic substances and harsh working conditions can harm the health of railroad employees.

Chronic Respiratory Diseases (Non-Cancer)

For many railroad workers, the first serious health problems linked to their job show up in the lungs, not as cancer but as slowly progressive breathing disorders.

Years of work around diesel locomotives, dusty ballast, welding fumes, and confined shop air can inflame and scar the airways until routine tasks leave a worker short of breath.

Chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and COPD often appear together, reflecting long-term damage to both the small airways and the air sacs of the lungs.

A case–control study of U.S. railroad workers found that time spent in diesel-exposed jobs was associated with increased mortality from COPD even after accounting for smoking, supporting the link between railroad diesel exposure and chronic non-cancer lung disease.

Cohort and surveillance studies in other industrial sectors also show this pattern, showing higher COPD rates in workers exposed to diesel exhaust, welding fumes, and silica dust compared with less-exposed groups.

Occupational asthma and reactive airway conditions have been documented in transportation and garage workers exposed to diesel exhaust, reinforcing concerns about similar risks in rail yards, shops, and tunnels.

Track and maintenance crews also face concentrated silica dust and other mineral particles from ballast, which are well-recognized causes of silicosis and broader pneumoconioses in dust-exposed workers.

The diseases below represent the main non-cancer respiratory conditions tied to these railroad exposures:

• Chronic Bronchitis
• Emphysema
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Occupational Asthma
• Reactive Airway Disease / Irritant-Induced Asthma
• Silicosis and Other Pneumoconioses

Asbestos-Related Lung Disease (Non-Malignant)

For decades, the widespread use of asbestos insulation, gaskets, brake linings, and other asbestos-containing components in locomotives, rail cars, and repair shops exposed thousands of railroad workers to one of the most dangerous chemicals ever used in industry.

Even when exposure seemed minimal or occasional (during maintenance, repairs, or brake work), inhaled asbestos fibers could embed in lung tissue or lung lining and remain invisible for decades.

Over time, these fibers may lead not only to cancer, but also to serious non-malignant asbestos-related diseases that impair breathing, restrict lung expansion, and cause chronic respiratory decline.

This risk remains relevant today for anyone who worked around older equipment or in shops where asbestos materials were handled without adequate protection.

Below are the primary non-malignant asbestos-related diseases:

• Asbestosis: A chronic disease in which inhaled asbestos fibers cause progressive scarring (fibrosis) of the lung tissue, reducing oxygen transfer and lung elasticity. Over time, this leads to shortness of breath, persistent cough, wheezing, and decreased lung capacity.
• Pleural Plaques: Pleural plaques are localized areas of thickened or scarred tissue on the pleura (the lining of the lungs) caused by asbestos fiber deposition and the body’s inflammatory response. While pleural plaques are typically non-malignant and often produce no symptoms, they serve as a clear historical marker of asbestos exposure, showing that a person’s lungs were exposed to sufficient fiber load to produce tissue change.
• Diffuse Pleural Thickening (DPT): Diffuse pleural thickening involves more extensive fibrosis of the pleural lining, often affecting broad portions of the lung lining, sometimes with adhesions between pleural layers, rather than the isolated, plaque-like lesions seen in pleural plaques. In DPT, the thickening can restrict lung expansion, reduce lung capacity, and cause breathlessness, chest pain, or reduced exercise tolerance.

Noise-Induced Hearing Loss and Tinnitus

Noise is one of the most consistent hazards in railroad work because it is built into the machinery, movement, and communication demands of daily operations.

Locomotive engines, horns, grinders, tampers, welders, and car-coupling impacts can expose workers to damaging sound levels across entire shifts, often without the clear warning signs that come with more immediate injuries.

Federal regulators recognize this risk as a serious occupational health issue: the Federal Railroad Administration adopted specific noise standards aimed at protecting employees whose predominant noise exposure occurs in the locomotive cab, reflecting how central cab noise is to the job.

A separate federal handbook on railroad noise measurement describes the main sources of rail noise (from yard switching and coupling impacts to horn sound levels and noise inside locomotive cabs) highlighting how many aspects of the railroad environment generate hazardous noise.

This exposure pattern matters because hearing damage is cumulative.

NIOSH reports that approximately 22 million U.S. workers are exposed to hazardous noise at work each year, and noise-induced hearing loss remains one of the most common work-related illnesses in the country.

In NIOSH surveillance data for the transportation and warehousing sector, about 13% of workers report hearing difficulty, about 7% report tinnitus, and about 12% of noise-exposed tested workers have a material hearing impairment, meaning hearing loss severe enough to affect day-to-day functioning.

Those numbers are especially important in railroad work because many rail jobs require workers to hear warnings, radio instructions, equipment changes, and approaching hazards, often while operating in the same loud environment that damages hearing.

When hearing loss develops, workers frequently compensate by straining to understand speech, raising volume levels, or relying on visual cues, which can increase safety risks and intensify fatigue.

Musculoskeletal and Cumulative Trauma Disorders

Musculoskeletal disorders are among the most common occupational illnesses in railroad work because the job repeatedly puts the body under high force, awkward positioning, vibration, and uneven footing.

Unlike an acute injury, these conditions develop through wear and micro-trauma, often after years of lifting, climbing, coupling equipment, handling tools, and working long shifts in environments that are not designed around the worker’s biomechanics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) as injuries to muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, cartilage, and spinal discs that are often driven by repetitive motion, overexertion, and sustained awkward postures.

Railroad work includes all of those risk factors, and research focused specifically on U.S. locomotive engineers shows how quickly those exposures translate into measurable harm.

In a study examining whole-body vibration and ergonomic factors among U.S. railroad engineers, time spent being bothered by vibration was significantly associated with increased risk of low back pain, shoulder and neck pain, and sciatic pain, reinforcing that locomotive vibration is not just discomfort, it is a documented occupational hazard.

Related research has reported that serious neck and lower back disorders among locomotive operators were nearly double the prevalence found in a control group, demonstrating an excess burden of disease in railroad jobs with heavy vibration and cab-based ergonomic strain.

Maintenance-of-way workers often face a different pattern of cumulative trauma: repetitive lifting, tool vibration, prolonged bending, and hours spent walking and kneeling on uneven ballast.

A study on work exposures and musculoskeletal disorders in railroad maintenance-of-way crews concluded that the number and severity of these disorders can be reduced with ergonomic design improvements, better tool design, and more accurate reporting, language that reflects a preventable, work-driven disease process rather than an unavoidable consequence of aging.

The physical toll is often compounded by scheduling demands that limit recovery time between shifts, accelerating inflammation, joint degeneration, and chronic pain progression.

Common musculoskeletal and cumulative trauma disorders in railroad workers include:

• Chronic Low Back Pain and Degenerative Disc Disease
• Neck and Shoulder Disorders
• Sciatica and Nerve Compression Syndromes
• Knee, Hip, and Joint Degeneration
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Upper Extremity Cumulative Trauma

Skin and Eye Conditions

Railroad work often involves direct contact with irritants and sensitizers, especially in shops, yards, and maintenance settings where workers are exposed to toxic substances on a routine basis.

Many exposures happen through the skin or eyes, not just inhalation, because fuels, solvents, oils, and treated materials frequently coat tools, components, and work surfaces.

OSHA notes that occupational skin disease is one of the most common workplace illnesses in the U.S., with recordable skin diseases outpacing recordable respiratory illnesses in recent BLS data, evidence that dermal exposure is a serious occupational health issue across industries.

In rail settings, chemical fumes and splash exposure can also inflame the eyes, especially when work occurs in enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces.

Diesel exhaust itself is recognized as a source of eye and nose irritation, and workers in diesel-heavy environments may experience burning eyes, headaches, and respiratory irritation even without a “spill” or acute exposure event.

Over time, repeated contact with toxic materials (including degreasers, solvents, fuels, and creosote-treated ties) can break down the skin barrier and trigger chronic dermatitis, chemical burns, and longer-term tissue damage.

Types of skin and eye conditions linked to railroad work include:

• Contact Dermatitis (Irritant or Allergic)
• Chemical Burns and Corrosive Skin Injury
• Creosote-Related Skin Conditions (Including Phototoxic Dermatitis)
• Eye Irritation and Conjunctivitis from Fumes and Splashes

Neurologic and Sleep-Related Disorders

Railroad work can affect the nervous system in ways that are harder to recognize than lung disease or hearing loss, because symptoms often start as fatigue, headaches, poor sleep, or subtle cognitive changes.

Many of these conditions are tied to chronic exposure to chemical solvents, metal fumes, and other neurotoxic agents used in maintenance and repair environments, particularly when ventilation and respiratory protection are inadequate.

NIOSH has long warned that occupational exposure to organic solvents can cause adverse neurologic effects and recommends engineering controls and protective equipment to reduce exposure.

The EPA similarly notes that chronic solvent exposure has been linked to cognitive and mood impairment, memory problems, and peripheral neuropathy, and that these effects can worsen when solvents are combined with other hazards such as noise.

For workers involved in welding or metal work, neurologic risk can also come from inhaling fine metal particulates; NIOSH explains that welding fumes contain metals and often include manganese, a neurotoxicant associated with parkinsonian symptoms in occupational research.

Sleep and fatigue problems represent a separate but closely connected pathway for neurologic harm.

The Federal Railroad Administration’s Railroaders’ Guide to Healthy Sleep describes shift work disorder as a condition driven by irregular work and sleep timing, often causing insomnia, excessive sleepiness on duty, and impaired concentration, issues with direct safety consequences.

FRA-sponsored research has also documented how railroad scheduling patterns shape fatigue and alertness across multiple job categories, reinforcing that sleep disruption is not incidental in railroad work but structural.

Over time, these patterns can contribute to other serious illnesses, including chronic sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, and cardiovascular strain, especially when fatigue intersects with toxic exposures and high-stress work environments.

Neurological and sleep disorders related to railroad work include:

• Chronic Solvent Encephalopathy (Toxic Encephalopathy)
• Peripheral Neuropathy and Sensory Symptoms
• Parkinson’s Disease and Parkinsonism (Metal Fume Exposure)
• Shift Work Disorder and Chronic Sleep Disruption

PTSD, Depression, and Other Mental Health Conditions

Mental health injuries are a recognized occupational harm in rail work, particularly when a railroad accident or fatal incident forces employees to witness traumatic events they could not prevent.

Train crews may be involved in collisions, derailments, near misses, or “person-under-train” incidents that produce shock, helplessness, guilt, and intrusive memories long after the shift ends.

A systematic review of person-under-train incidents found consistent evidence that these events can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sickness absence, and other mental health consequences for train drivers.

A prospective study of male train drivers following person-under-train incidents also documented posttraumatic stress symptoms, anxiety, and depression over time, reinforcing that psychological injury can follow a predictable clinical course after traumatic rail events.

U.S. psychiatric literature has similarly described railroad and subway drivers as a high-risk group for PTSD because their job can make them an unintended instrument of death during collisions and track incidents.

These conditions are not limited to one catastrophic event; repeated exposure to serious incidents, combined with long hours, irregular sleep, and constant operational pressure, can erode resilience and make recovery harder.

Depression may emerge through persistent sleep disruption, hypervigilance, and the loss of a worker’s sense of safety and control, while anxiety often becomes tied to the anticipation of future incidents and the fear of returning to the cab.

The Federal Railroad Administration’s Trespass & Suicide Prevention Toolkit explicitly notes that suicide and trespass incidents can negatively affect the mental health and wellbeing of train crews and identifies PTSD, anxiety, and depression as documented outcomes, showing that these harms are recognized at the federal level, not treated as rare exceptions.

When railroads fail to protect workers through meaningful post-incident support, mental health screening, and trauma-informed policies, psychological injuries can become chronic and disabling, affecting work capacity, relationships, and long-term quality of life.

Cancer remains one of the most serious long-term outcomes associated with the railroad work environment, particularly for workers whose jobs placed them in sustained contact with diesel exhaust, asbestos, solvents, and other dangerous substances.

Many of these exposures are not obvious in the moment because they are built into routine operations: idling locomotives in yards, enclosed shop work, brake and insulation maintenance, and chemical-based cleaning and repair tasks.

Over time, the cumulative effect of these conditions can increase cancer risk, especially when workers experience prolonged inhalation or skin contact across decades of service.

Benzene exposure is one example, as benzene can appear in fuels, solvents, and combustion byproducts and has been strongly linked to certain blood cancers in occupational health research.

Railroad cancer cases also often involve overlapping exposures, where diesel particulate, asbestos fibers, silica dust, and chemical vapors interact in a way that makes the disease process difficult to trace to a single source.

Because these illnesses may not appear until years after retirement, many workers and families do not immediately connect a cancer diagnosis to prior railroad duties.

This is where railroad toxic exposure claims often begin: identifying what substances were present, how frequently the worker encountered them, and whether safety measures were realistically in place.

This section provides a high-level overview of cancer risk in railroad work and explains how railroad employers’ control over hazards, ventilation, training, and protective equipment can become central issues in these cases.

Diesel Exhaust and Lung Cancer

Diesel exhaust is one of the most common sources of toxic chemical exposures in railroad work because locomotives and yard equipment release fumes directly into the same spaces where crews operate, inspect, and repair equipment.

Exposure can occur in locomotive cabs, railyards during switching and idling, and inside shops or engine houses where ventilation is limited and diesel particulate can linger in the air.

Diesel exhaust is not a single chemical.

It is a complex mixture of gases and fine particulate matter that can penetrate deep into the lungs and contribute to long-term inflammation and cellular damage.

Railroad workers often experience diesel exposure alongside other hazards (such as welding fumes, solvents, and asbestos-containing materials), creating an overlapping exposure profile that can increase cumulative risk over a decades-long career.

Lung cancer may not appear until years after the exposure period, which is why a detailed work history matters when evaluating causation.

In railroad toxic exposure claims, the focus often turns to how frequently engines were allowed to idle near crews, whether cabs and shops had adequate ventilation, and whether respiratory protection was provided or realistically used.

When those controls are missing or ineffective, diesel exhaust can become a persistent occupational hazard with serious long-term consequences.

Asbestos Exposure and Mesothelioma / Lung Cancer

Asbestos exposure has been one of the most well-documented cancer risks in railroad work, largely because asbestos-containing materials were used across locomotives, rail cars, and maintenance facilities for decades.

In steam and early diesel eras, asbestos was valued for heat resistance and fire protection, which led to its widespread use in insulation, gaskets, packing, brake components, and other high-friction or high-temperature parts.

When these materials were cut, removed, repaired, or wore down through friction, they could release asbestos fibers into the air, creating an inhalation risk that workers often did not recognize at the time.

Mesothelioma is the disease most closely tied to asbestos because it is a rare cancer strongly associated with asbestos fiber exposure, and it often develops decades after the exposure period ends.

Railroad asbestos exposure has been linked to countless cases of mesothelioma and lung cancer, particularly among workers who spent years in rail yards and maintenance shops where asbestos-containing products were handled regularly.

Lung cancer is also a major concern because inhaled asbestos fibers can lodge in lung tissue and contribute to chronic inflammation and genetic damage over time, especially in workers with prolonged exposure histories.

In many railroad toxic exposure claims, asbestos cases involve exposure that occurred through routine maintenance and repair work rather than a single obvious event, which is why detailed job history matters, such as the worker’s time in shops, engine houses, brake work, insulation removal, or repair of older equipment.

Railroad companies used asbestos-containing products throughout nearly every part of the industry and often failed to take adequate steps to protect workers or warn them of the risks, leaving many workers diagnosed only after retirement.

Silica, Benzene, Herbicides, and Other Carcinogens

Diesel exhaust and asbestos are widely recognized hazards in rail work, but they are not the only exposures linked to cancer risk.

Many railroad jobs also involve frequent contact with silica-containing dust, benzene-containing products, and chemical weed-control agents applied directly to the track corridor.

These substances can be inhaled, absorbed, or carried home on clothing, and they often accumulate in the body over years in the railroad work environment.

In practice, these exposures tend to overlap: a worker may spend part of a shift breathing diesel exhaust, another part disturbing ballast dust, and another cleaning equipment with solvents or fuels that contain benzene.

These are not “rare” substances in railroad operations.

They are routine byproducts of maintenance, repair, and right-of-way work.

Chemically exposed and injured railroad workers may have the right to pursue compensation when toxic exposure causes illness and the railroad’s conduct contributed to that harm.

These cases are typically brought as FELA claims, which allow railroad employees to seek damages when an injury or disease is caused in whole or in part by employer negligence.

Unlike workers’ compensation systems, FELA requires proof that the railroad failed to take reasonable steps to control known hazards, such as inadequate ventilation, poor safety training, lack of protective equipment, or unsafe work practices involving toxic materials.

In toxic exposure cases, the most important early step is connecting a worker’s diagnosis to specific work conditions through job history, exposure evidence, and medical documentation.

Compensation may include medical expenses for diagnosis, treatment, medication, and long-term care, especially where the disease causes progressive disability.

Workers may also pursue lost wages and diminished earning capacity when their condition forces them to miss work, change duties, or retire early.

Depending on the illness and its impact, damages may also cover pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, and other long-term consequences tied to chronic disease.

Because occupational illnesses often develop over time, taking prompt legal action after diagnosis can protect a worker’s rights and preserve critical evidence before records are lost or memories fade.

The Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) Explained

The Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) is a federal law passed in 1908 to protect railroad workers who are hurt on the job or develop occupational diseases because of unsafe working conditions.

Unlike workers’ compensation, FELA is a fault-based system, which means a worker must show that the railroad’s negligence played some role in causing the injury or illness.

FELA applies to traumatic accidents and long-term exposure cases, including toxic exposure diseases and repetitive stress injuries, which makes it a critical legal tool for railroad workers facing occupational illness.

It also places an affirmative duty on railroad carriers to provide a reasonably safe workplace, including safe equipment, proper training, adequate tools, and meaningful safety practices.

When that duty is breached, FELA allows injured workers to pursue compensation through a claim or lawsuit, often with broader damages than a no-fault system provides.

Key points about FELA:

• A federal law for railroad workers: FELA specifically governs injury and occupational illness claims for railroad employees, creating a nationwide legal framework rather than state-based workers’ compensation rules.
• Negligence must be proven: A worker must show the railroad’s negligence contributed to the harm, even if the railroad’s role was only partial.
• Covers accidents and occupational diseases: FELA claims may involve derailments and falls, but also toxic exposure illnesses, hearing loss, repetitive stress injuries, and other long-latency occupational diseases.
• Allows broader damages: Eligible compensation can include medical costs, lost wages, and pain and suffering, depending on the facts of the case and the extent of the injury.

Occupational diseases in railroad work rarely appear overnight.

They build through years of exposure to diesel exhaust, silica dust, asbestos fibers, chemical fumes, extreme noise, and the physical strain that comes with keeping rail systems running.

Many workers live with chronic lung disease, hearing loss, degenerative joint conditions, and trauma-related mental health injuries long before they understand why the symptoms started or how closely those symptoms track their work history.

When a diagnosis arrives years later, the hardest part is often proving what caused it and whether it could have been prevented.

Gianaris Trial Lawyers investigates occupational disease cases involving toxic exposure, preventable hazards, and unsafe railroad work environments.

That includes long-latency illnesses tied to diesel exhaust, asbestos, solvents, ballast dust, and other harmful exposures, as well as non-chemical conditions rooted in vibration, noise, and cumulative physical trauma.

If you are a current or former railroad worker dealing with a serious diagnosis, or a family member trying to understand how railroad work may have contributed, an early legal review can help preserve evidence, build a clear exposure timeline, and determine whether a FELA claim is possible.

Contact Gianaris Trial Lawyers to discuss your case and learn what legal options may be available.

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