Aluminum Plant Worker Cannot Prove that Exposure to High Energy Machinery’s Radiation Contributed to Development of Brain Cancer

The Court of Appeals of North Carolina affirmed the State Industrial Commission’s denial of a claim for workers’ compensation, which alleged that a decade of working next to a machine that transmitted x-rays as part of the aluminum foil manufacturing process contributed to the worker’s brain cancer.  Citing the device’s radiation protection shield, the inability of a worker to get within five feet of the device, the lack of any measurable levels of radiation during routine testing, and the similarities in radiation levels around the device with normal background radiation, the court concluded the Industrial Commission’s decision was supported by competent evidence.

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