What You Should Know About Toxic Torts

A toxic tort is pretty much what it sounds like. Toxic refers to a toxin – exposure to a hazardous substance. Tort refers to an act that infringes on another person’s rights or wrongfully causes harm – a legal liability. For instance, if a pesticide company comes through your neighborhood and it sprays a chemical containing DDT, you may file a toxic tort if you subsequently give birth to a child with related complications. Regardless of the specifics, if you believe an illness, injury, or other complication is directly linked to exposure, take action immediately.

As with any other type of personal injury lawsuit , you must prove another person owed you a reasonable duty or responsibility, he or she failed to maintain it, and his or her actions caused the incident and your subsequent injury or illness. In these particular cases, you’d need to prove the substance was, in fact, hazardous, that you were exposed to it, and that exposure caused significant harm (i.e. injury or illness).

There are many ways you could experience exposure to a toxic substance, and some of them you may not realize at the time. Many exposure scenarios happen on one day, and a victim may not discover the effects or the cause until months or years after the fact. As soon as a victim determines the link between an illness or injury and a hazardous substance, he or she should pursue legal action. The statute of limitations on toxic torts in Texas is two years from the moment of connective discovery – i.e., the instant you or a healthcare provider links your injury with the exposure.

The DDT example in the beginning of this post is a bit outdated because most pesticide companies are aware of the health risks and stopped using it many years ago. Here are some common examples of toxic torts cases:

Unlike a car accident , after which most effects are immediate and clear, toxic torts are often delayed scenarios that take time to discover, investigate, and resolve. You may not know how exposure to a chemical will affect you over time, and if you don’t suffer any directly linked illness or injury, you can’t take action. Many things cause cancer, lung disease, and other illnesses, making connecting an illness or complication to a chemical exposure difficult.

If you work with hazardous materials or near a company that deals in hazardous materials, make note of any direct exposure. Environmental, health, and safety regulations significantly reduce the risk of exposure, but they haven’t eliminated the potential entirely. If you start to experience symptoms associated with toxin exposure, reach out to an attorney to learn more about your options. Time is often of the essence in these cases.

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