EVERETT, Wash. — Boeing uses thousands of chemicals in the production of its airplanes -- some of them toxic.
In 2014 Mike Evans was working on the 777 line at the Everett production facility.
A lawsuit filed by him claims he was exposed to "volatile organic solvents" and "heavy metals" on the job that caused birth defects in his unborn child.
The boy's mother worked at Boeing for the duration of her pregnancy and, according to the suit, was also exposed to toxic chemicals.
Her son was born on July 25, 2017, with Spina Bifida along with other defects and will be "disabled for the rest of his life."
The lawsuit claimed that although Boeing's Environmental Health & Safety division has implemented policies to reduce worker exposure to toxic chemicals, the "written policies are often not enforced by Boeing's production managers."
A second lawsuit filed by Everett fuel tank sealer, John Kemmling, asserts he was exposed to toxic chemicals that resulted in birth defects to his child rendering him "non-verbal and unable to live an independent existence."
Kemmling claimed Boeing has known since "at least the 1980s" that the chemicals it uses in the workplace "can cause birth defects" including through paternal exposures. Yet little was done to address the issue, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Boeing occupational health manager Dr. Barry Dunphy estimated that 30,000 employees in the Puget Sound area were exposed to "toxic chemical mixtures" in 1980. The company's "degree of control" over these chemical mixtures is "very poor," the lawsuit detailed.
That was 43 years ago and the families said little has changed.
A Boeing representative declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Several other Boeing employees are suing the company over alleged toxic exposure, claiming the chemicals produced health issues in their children, as well.
Those cases date back four decades.