Dioxin Poisoning Compensation Claim

Dioxin Poisoning Compensation Claim

Duncan Lewis Industrial Claims Solicitors – No win no fee Dioxin Poisoning Compensation Claims

Dioxins can be created chemically – and are present as a by-product of combustion in fires or incineration.

There are three main types of dioxins produced in industry, which may be harmful in the workplace and cause dioxin poisoning if not properly controlled:

• Chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (CDDs)
• Chlorinated dibenzofurans (CDFs)
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Some dioxins like 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) – used in the chemical industry – are extremely toxic and a danger to life. TCDD was a component of Agent Orange, used as a herbicide in the Vietnam War.

CDDs and CDFs may be found in industrial waste such as sludge from paper factories – and CDFs are also released during electrical fires involving equipment that contains PCBs (eg fluorescent lighting tubes).

Dioxins like CDFs can remain as particles in the air for as long as 10 days – and can be dispersed in air and enter the food chain via water near grazing land and as such as classified as persistent environmental pollutants (POPs).

Research has linked PCBs to cancer in animals – and PCBs may also affect the endocrine system (pituitary, thyroid and adrenal glands), nervous system and immune system.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the main risks to human health from dioxins are:

• Cancer
• Developmental problems
• Hormone disruption
• Immune system impairment
• Liver damage
• Reproductive problems (eg infertility).

Common everyday symptoms of dioxin poisoning may include eye and nose irritation, respiratory tract irritation – and skin problems, such as acne, patches of dark skin (melasma) and lesions.

Because dioxins can exist in water, air and the food chain, they can be inhaled or ingested.

Employers have a duty to protect industrial workers in jobs like chemical factories, waste recycling plants, incineration, wood mills, steel works and paper mills from exposure to dioxins – as well as warning them of the risks of inhaling or ingesting CDDs, CDFs and PCBs over time.

Employers also have a duty to provide any necessary medical checks industrial workers may need, as dioxins can be stored in fatty tissue in the body for up to ten years.

Duncan Lewis industrial claims solicitors can advise on how to make a no win no fee claim for dioxin compensation if an employer has failed to protect a worker from exposure to dioxins – or advise a worker of the risks of illnesses linked to exposure to dioxins under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002.

Making a Claim for Dioxin Poisoning

Workers who have been diagnosed with illness as a result of being exposed to dioxins in the workplace or in the course of their duties have three years from the date of diagnosis of disease in which to make a no win no fee claim for dioxin poisoning.

Because diseases caused by dioxin poisoning can years to develop, Duncan Lewis industrial claims solicitors can help with tracing the insurers of a former employer using the Employers’ Liability Tracing Office (ELTO) and records held at Companies House. Even if an employer is no longer in business or a company was taken over a former employer’s business, it is still possible to trace the Employers' Liability (EL) insurer to make a claim for dioxin poisoning compensation.

Duncan Lewis industrial claims solicitors can also advise bereaved families whose loved one has died as a result of dioxin poisoning on how to make no win no fee compensation claim – including if the cause of death at post-mortem was found to be as a result of exposure to dioxins in the workplace.

Duncan Lewis Industrial Claims Solicitors – No win no fee Dioxin Poisoning Compensation Claims

Duncan Lewis industrial claims solicitors are leading firm of no win no fee lawyers and can advise victims of industrial diseases and their families on how to make dioxin poisoning compensation claims – including historic cases where a disease or degenerative condition caused by exposure to dioxins at work has been diagnosed.

Duncan Lewis industrial claims solicitors employ medical experts in industrial diseases if it is necessary to prove a link between a claimant having worked with dioxins and later being diagnosed with diseases and conditions caused by dioxin poisoning.

Because of the limitation period for making claims for exposure to dioxins at work, Duncan Lewis industrial claims solicitors advise claimants to get in touch as soon as possible after diagnosis of a disease linked to dioxin poisoning to discuss making a compensation claim.

For expert legal advice on no win no fee Dioxin Poisoning Compensation Claims call Duncan Lewis Industrial Claims Solicitors on 020 7923 4020.