Over many years, some of the wives, partners and children of men exposed to asbestos at work have died from mesothelioma, a cancer caused by inhaling asbestos fibres.
Many never set foot in their husbands’ workplaces. Instead, they were exposed to asbestos while washing dusty work clothes brought home at the end of a shift, as a result of secondary exposure.
Decades later, some of them would find out from visiting their GPs that their unexplained ailments were in fact the symptoms of asbestos disease. Referral to a consultant would subsequently confirm they were suffering from mesothelioma.
Can Mesothelioma Be Caused by Washing Work Clothes?
Yes. Washing contaminated work clothes can cause mesothelioma through secondary exposure.
For much of the twentieth century, many workers returned home covered in asbestos dust after working in shipyards, construction, engineering and other industries where asbestos was widely used.
About 2,200–2,400 people die from mesothelioma in the UK each year; most victims are men, and women make up roughly one in six deaths.
Mesothelioma is caused by breathing in asbestos fibres or dust. The disease develops very slowly. In fact, it can take anywhere from 10 to 60 years from exposure to diagnosis. By the time mesothelioma symptoms appear, the disease is often advanced. There is no cure for mesothelioma. Whilst treatments are improving and some patients are living longer than before, mesothelioma remains an aggressive, fatal illness.
How Asbestos Came Home
For much of the twentieth century, thousands of workers were exposed to asbestos every day. Shipbuilding, construction, steelworks, railway engineering works, power stations and a host of heavy industries all made widespread use of asbestos. It was a cheap, strong, and versatile material with fire-resistant and insulating properties. Its use was widespread.
Little or no protective clothing was provided in the form of masks or other protective gear, and there were certainly no warnings about the dangers of asbestos, even though most employers knew, or ought to have known, the full extent of the dangers of asbestos exposure to their employees.
Many workers finished their shifts covered in asbestos dust from head to toe. So, when they walked through the front door of their homes, they brought asbestos with them.
Work clothes were shaken out before washing. Overalls were scrubbed by hand in sinks or wash tubs. Fibres were released into the air and inhaled by wives, daughters, and sometimes young children. They were all oblivious to what was happening to their bodies.
This washing routine was repeated several times a week for years. The exposure from washing work overalls was not at the high industrial levels of those working directly with asbestos. Although asbestos is inherently dangerous in itself, most asbestos diseases usually develop after prolonged exposure and the inhalation of large quantities of fibres.
Many of the women who later developed mesothelioma never worked with asbestos themselves. Their exposure came from handling contaminated work clothing. Sadly, this was often enough to ensure they developed mesothelioma.
Some got mesothelioma after even less exposure. There have been cases where children were exposed simply from giving their father a hug when he came home from work, still wearing his asbestos-laden overalls.
The Hidden Risks to Wives and Children
Asbestos diseases have traditionally affected men because most heavy industry workforces were male during the decades when asbestos use was at its highest.
While the majority of cases are still caused by occupational exposure, secondary exposure at home has long been recognised as a risk, particularly for women, with wives and daughters developing mesothelioma decades after a family member worked in an environment where asbestos was used extensively in one form or another.
All cases of asbestos disease are distressing. Those with secondary exposure had no idea they were being exposed. Never in a thousand years could they have guessed that one day they would be diagnosed with a fatal illness from simply washing clothes.
The Turning Point in 1965
Secondary asbestos exposure is now widely accepted as a cause of mesothelioma. That has not always been the case.
The risks of household exposure were formally recognised after the publication of research by Newhouse and Thompson in 1965, which identified mesothelioma cases among family members of asbestos workers. The findings received widespread attention and made clear that asbestos fibres carried home on work clothes posed a real danger.
This date can be important because recent Court of Appeal decisions have confirmed that where exposure occurred before 1965, it can be extremely difficult to establish that employers should have foreseen the risk, particularly where exposure was low-level, incidental or occasional.
In practice, claims based solely on low-level exposure before 1965 are now very hard to pursue successfully.
However, from 1965 onwards, it was deemed that employers knew, or should have known, of the risks to workers’ families.
Mesothelioma and Low-Level Exposure
Diseases such as asbestosis and asbestos-related lung cancer usually only develop after a prolonged period of heavy exposure to asbestos.
Mesothelioma is different.
Medical research has shown that mesothelioma can be caused by fairly low or intermittent exposure, which is why secondary exposure in the home proved to be so dangerous. The fibres are microscopic and easily inhaled. Once lodged in the lining of the lungs, they can remain there for decades before triggering disease.
Women Exposed at Work
Although many female mesothelioma patients were exposed at home, occupational exposure among women is also well recognised.
Teachers, nurses, textile workers, cleaners, and office workers have all developed mesothelioma after exposure in the workplace. Schools and hospitals built or refurbished in the years when asbestos was in widespread use often contained insulation and building materials that contained asbestos.
Treatment Today
For many years, treatment options for mesothelioma were limited, and survival rates were poor. While the disease remains extremely serious, there have been genuine advances in recent years.
Chemotherapy continues to play an important role, often helping to control symptoms and slow the progression of the disease.
More recently, immunotherapy drugs such as nivolumab and ipilimumab have been introduced for some patients with pleural mesothelioma. These treatments work by helping the immune system recognise and attack cancer cells. Clinical studies have shown that immunotherapy improves survival outcomes for certain patients, and as such, it is now part of standard treatment for suitable cases.
Researchers are also investigating targeted therapies, combination treatments and personalised approaches based on the genetic characteristics of individual tumours. Specialist mesothelioma centres across the UK are involved in ongoing clinical trials aimed at extending survival and improving quality of life.
Whilst these developments offer some hope, mesothelioma remains a disease that is often diagnosed late, meaning the cancer is already well advanced.
Making a Claim After Secondary Exposure
Employers had a duty to protect not only their employees but also those who might reasonably be affected by the spread of asbestos dust. In many cases, that duty was breached when workers were allowed to go home in contaminated clothing without warnings or protective measures.
It’s the nature of asbestos disease that asbestos claims are still being brought on behalf of clients decades after exposure took place. Specialist asbestos disease solicitors search employment records, HMRC records, witness statements, and historical information about the workplaces where asbestos was used to bring successful claims.
Secondary exposure cases are now well recognised by the courts.
A Preventable Tragedy
Mesothelioma is a clear example of what should have been a preventable industrial disease.
Thousands of workers were exposed to asbestos without adequate protection. Many of those workers unknowingly carried asbestos fibres home on their clothes, exposing the people closest to them.
As a result, some of the most tragic mesothelioma cases involve women who never worked with asbestos at all.
Posted in Asbestos Disease
