Asbestos Mesothelioma – A Creeping Epidemic

August 4, 2009

Buckeye, AZ After 34 years in the Navy, Peter (name withheld), is facing a potentially serious health problem. He has asbestosis. Having worked as a boilermaker on Navy ships and around Asbestos insulation for many years, asbestos related health problems do not come as a surprise to him. And he knows that asbestosis could be the precursor for mesothelioma.



When Peter started in the Navy as an apprentice boilermaker, he wasn't warned of the dangers of asbestos, nor was he provided with any safety equipment, such as gloves, a mask, or disposable overalls. "It wasn't until the 1970s that we became aware of the health problems associated with asbestos," Peter said.



In 1991 Peter was diagnosed with asbestosis by a Navy doctor, and he was subsequently placed on light duty in 1993. "I was placed in an asbestos surveillance program the last 6 years prior to retirement in 1995," Peter said. "This year, I have had a chest x-ray, a CT scan and a pulmonary function test, with positive results for asbestosis, and in September I'm scheduled to see a lung specialist. My doctor has put my on an inhaler to help with the breathlessness."



Asbestos and Asbestos Mesothelioma

The major concern from all of this is that Peter could develop asbestos mesothelioma. More than 27 million workers were exposed to potentially carcinogenic mineral between 1940 and 1980, predominantly men who worked on or around boilers, pipes, furnaces, and automobiles with asbestos brake shoes.



But the Navy was a particularly risky place to work, and years of day-in day-out exposure is now proving a problem for veterans. Asbestos was used as an insulator because it has a very high heat tolerance, and so is an effective fire retardant. In the 1960s it wasn't uncommon for pipefitters to work with asbestos insulation using their bare hands, as Peter did. Unfortunately, removing old insulation would generate dust that contained very fine, very lethal asbestos fibres. When asbestos fibres become airborne they can settle in people's hair, clothing and worst of all their lungs. This is what leads to asbestosis and mesothelioma.



Because the latency period for the disease can be upward of 30 years, many cases are only now coming to light, and the numbers of men and women who will be diagnosed with asbestos mesothelioma in the coming years is set to climb.