For generations, the aerospace manufacturing industry has relied on industrial solvents, heavy metals and other chemicals to clean components during the building process, to protect aircraft from corrosion, and withstand the physical stress of aviation.
A growing number of reports of serious illnesses and medical conditions affecting aerospace manufacturing workers and their families are raising questions about whether manufacturers have done enough to warn workers about the potential dangers of chemical exposure and protect them from unnecessary risks.
Those questions are at the center of lawsuits involving current and former Boeing workers in Washington state. The workers allege that exposure to chemicals used in aircraft manufacturing contributed to serious illnesses in themselves and medical conditions in their children. The litigation also examines what Boeing knew about the risks associated with chemicals such as hexavalent chromium and what steps the company took to protect its workers.
The questions extend beyond one company or one state. Aerospace manufacturing is an important part of the Texas economy, and workers throughout the industry may encounter some of the same chemicals and manufacturing processes.
The issue is not whether these chemicals are useful in aerospace manufacturing. The question is whether workers are given the information and protections they need to understand and avoid harmful exposure.
Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel partner Patrick Wigle
“The issue is not whether these chemicals are useful in aerospace manufacturing,” said Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel attorney Patrick Wigle. “The question is whether workers are given the information and protections they need to understand and avoid harmful exposure.”
Boeing & Aviation Manufacturing’s Reliance on Toxic Chemicals
Chemicals used in aviation manufacturing include known carcinogens such as hexavalent chromium and cadmium, as well as industrial solvents like ketones, acetone, and toluene.
Hexavalent chromium, often called chromium 6, has long been used in aerospace manufacturing as a crucial element for high-performance superalloys and as a protective surface coating to resist extreme wear and corrosion. Chromium is a recognized occupational hazard and known carcinogen that has the ability to enter human cells and damage DNA, which leads to genetic mutations and tumor growth.
Exposure to chromium has been associated with lung, nasal and sinus cancer and other serious health effects. In addition, exposure can impact parents’ reproductive systems before conception or affect mothers during pregnancy, passing on damaged DNA.
Boeing Cancer Victims, Families Seek Answers
At least 18 lawsuits are pending on behalf of current and former Boeing workers who were exposed to chemicals on the job. The lawsuits allege that these exposures contributed to birth defects, developmental and genetic disorders, and other medical conditions in the workers’ children. In addition, workers have been diagnosed with serious forms of cancer, including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, lung cancer and glioblastoma.
Court records in the litigation include internal Boeing documents and communications with federal regulators concerning permissible levels of hexavalent chromium exposure. Documents revealed during these lawsuits show that Boeing long lobbied the federal government for relaxed standards regarding the use of hazardous chemicals. Internal documents show that the company was aware that removing hexavalent chromium from the production cycle was the safest option.
When the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) did lower the allowed worker exposure levels for chromium 6, Boeing obtained multiple waivers that allowed them to conform to higher exposure levels, court records show.
Boeing has also challenged whether it can be held legally responsible for injuries allegedly resulting from chemical exposure that occurred before a worker’s child was conceived. In March 2026, a Washington appellate court rejected those claims, although the company is now asking the Washington state Supreme Court to consider the argument. That case involved a child who was born with a rare genetic condition known as Duane syndrome, as well as severe intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“The exact timing of the risk — whether the damaging chemical exposures occurred before or after conception — is not dispositive,” one justice in the Washington state appeal wrote. “If Boeing’s conduct involves an unreasonable risk of injury to workers’ children, the timeline bears little import to the existence of a duty.”
Questions Ripple Across the Aviation, Aerospace Industries
The Boeing lawsuits will ultimately turn on questions of evidence, causation and legal responsibility that will be decided in court. But the concerns they raise extend beyond a single company or a single group of workers.
Aerospace manufacturing remains an important part of the U.S. economy, including in Texas, where workers manufacture, maintain and repair aircraft and aerospace components. Many of these operations rely on industrial chemicals that can pose serious health risks when workers are exposed without adequate controls.
For workers, the issue is straightforward: They have a right to know about the hazards they may encounter on the job and to have appropriate measures in place to protect them. As the science surrounding occupational and reproductive health continues to evolve, the experience of aerospace workers raises a broader question for the industry: Are employers doing enough to ensure that the chemicals essential to building and maintaining aircraft do not come at an unacceptable cost to the people who work with them?