Most toxic tort cases have arisen either from exposure to
pharmaceutical drugs or occupational exposures. Most
pharmaceutical toxic injury cases are mass tort cases, because
drugs are consumed by thousands of people, many of whom become
ill from a toxic drug. There have also been many occupational
toxic tort cases, because industrial and other workers are often
chronically exposed to toxic chemicals - more so than consumers
and residents. Most of the law in this area arises from asbestos
exposure, but thousands of toxic chemicals are used in industry
and workers in these areas can experience a variety of toxic
injuries. Unlike the general population, which is exposed to
trace amounts of thousands of different chemicals in the
environment, industrial workers are regularly exposed to much
higher levels of chemicals and therefore have a greater risk of
developing disease from particular chemical exposures than the
general population. The home has recently become the subject of
toxic tort litigation, mostly due t