Documenting Experiences of Black Aluminum Smelting Workers in West Badin, North Carolina: A Community-Engaged Survey Approach

Our plain-English summary of Documenting Experiences of Black Aluminum Smelting Workers in West Badin, North Carolina: A Community-Engaged Survey Approach, by C. Manley, E. Teka, P. Vasudevan, et al (New Solutions, 2026).

The study

• Authors: C. Manley, E. Teka, P. Vasudevan, E.S. McClure
• Journal: New Solutions
• Published: 2026;36(2):211-227
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Between 1917 and 2007, Alcoa operated an aluminum smelting plant in Badin, North Carolina, resulting in hazardous occupational and environmental exposures in West Badin, a predominantly Black community. We partnered with the Concerned Citizens of West Badin Community to document the experiences of prior employees and their families. We used a community-engaged survey approach to summarize residents' workplace and community-level experiences. Fourteen interviews were coded for recurring themes. Potroom work was the most frequently reported job. Occupational exposures included asbestos, extreme heat, and dust inhalation. Additional workplace stressors included take-home exposures and racism. Most participants expressed concerns about environmental exposures as well. Health conditions most frequently reported included cancer, heart disease, and lung disease. Badin residents experience cumulative impacts of occupational and environmental hazards resulting from Alcoa's operations. This survey served as a tool for documenting their experiences, identifying ongoing environmental concerns, supporting community organizing, and highlighting the resilience of the West Badin community.

In plain English

This study, done in partnership with the Concerned Citizens of West Badin Community, used an open-ended household survey to document the experiences of Black residents of West Badin, North Carolina, where Alcoa ran an aluminum smelting plant. Fourteen people took part: 5 former Alcoa employees and 9 family members of workers. Their answers were coded for recurring themes. Potroom work was the most frequently reported job. Asbestos exposure on the job was reported by 8 family members and by all 5 former workers. PCBs were reported by 4 family members and 2 former workers. Two family members and 5 former workers said work clothes were washed at home. All 9 family members reported a relative who worked at the plant with a respiratory condition, and 6 reported cancer. Among former workers, 5 reported heart disease and 4 reported cancer. All 5 former workers reported racism on the job. These health conditions are what participants reported. The authors concluded that the findings support the need for local, state and federal policy interventions. They named the small sample size, limited by the COVID-19 pandemic, as a limitation.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Community-engaged survey (open- and closed-ended interviews), with responses coded for recurring themes (qualitative study)
• Who was studied: 14 Black residents of West Badin, North Carolina: 5 former Alcoa employees and 9 family members of Alcoa workers (10 women, 4 men; most 55 or older)
• Exposure: Work at the Alcoa aluminum smelting plant in Badin, mostly potroom work. Reported exposures were asbestos, PCBs, extreme heat, dust and infectious agents, plus take-home and community environmental exposures.
• Main results:
  • Potroom work was the most frequently reported job; all 5 prior workers reported potroom work.
  • Work-related asbestos exposure was reported by 8 of 9 family members and 5 of 5 prior workers. PCBs were reported by 4 family members and 2 prior workers.
  • Take-home exposure: 2 family members and 5 prior workers reported work clothes being washed at home.
  • Participants reported that employees were not issued uniforms washed on site until the late 1990s or early 2000s.
  • All 9 family members reported that a relative who worked in the plant had a respiratory condition (including COPD, asbestosis and coughing). Cancer was reported by 6 of the 9 family members.
  • Cancer was the next most frequent condition reported by family members, at 6 of 9.
  • Among the 5 prior employees, 5 reported heart disease and 4 reported cancer.
  • Among the 5 prior employees, the most common job stressors were racism (5), layoffs (3) and intimidation (3).
  • Nine participants reported being concerned about Alcoa's contamination of West Badin.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that West Badin residents face cumulative occupational, environmental and psychosocial hazards related to Alcoa's operations. They said the survey findings support the need for local, state and federal policy interventions.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Small sample size
  • More interviews were planned but were hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic; online interviewing was not accessible to this population at the time.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Environmental Exposure, Occupational Exposure, Take-home Exposure.

Related studies

• Cancer and noncancer mortality among aluminum smelting workers in Badin, North Carolina — E.S. McClure, P. Vasudevan, et al. (2020)
• Epidemiologic evidence of cancer in aluminum reduction plant workers — A. Rönneberg, F. Langmark (1992)
• Irregular opacities in the lung, occupational asthma, and airways dysfunction in aluminum workers — K.H. Kilburn, R.H. Warshaw (1992)
• Lung cancer mortality and fibre exposures among North Carolina asbestos textile workers — D. Loomis, J.M. Dement, et al. (2009)
• Mortality among North Carolina construction workers, 1988-1994 — E. Wang, J.M. Dement, et al. (1999)
• Lung cancer mortality in North Carolina and South Carolina chrysotile asbestos textile workers — L. Elliott, D. Loomis, et al. (2012)

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