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Serious Question

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 4:16 pm
by dboutell
I have a brother-in-law that was just diagnosed with mesothelioma. One of the first few questions that his doctor asked him was if he was in the Military/Navy. I assume that all of the insulation on the boat, as well as all Navy Ships, was asbestos.

So, the question is, does anybody, personally or know of anyone, who has experienced mesothelioma?

Sorry for such a sobering question.

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 5:36 pm
by Keith Holman
For more information on mesothelioma, I suggest folks check here.

From my era, I recall being asked to provide information specific to whether or not exposed to asbestos while at prototype in 1979. During the mid- to late-70s, the civilian world was moving towards limiting its use.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2007 2:30 am
by DMFriess
Meso and asbestosis are both very nasty diseases and are only associated with asbestos exposure. They tend to have very long latency periods (time from exposure to time of manifestation of the disease) so it is sometimes hard to pinpoint when exposure occurred. There are many shipyard workers who suffer from meso and/or asbestosis.

Asbestos is typically only dangerous if it is friable, i.e., capable of becoming airborne. While it was in the lagging, it probably did not cause dangerous exposure unless someone was tearing into lagging for maintenance.

The bigger concern that I have always had is PCB exposure. PCBs were all over the boat, from sound mounts to dielectric fluid. The hull in the ER was found to be dripping with PCBs during decom. I am sure that the bilge was a PCB soup as well.