Second-hand exposure caused my asbestos-related disease

Joan Scanlon's* ex-husband John had been in construction for forty years, starting out as an apprentice to his uncle, who was a drywall and insulation contractor. Joan and John were married soon after he began working, and lived together until 1975. Joan explains how she acquired pleural plaques.

“When John and I got married, I wasn't working then. I did his laundry every two or three days, I would say, because he and Joe [John's uncle] and the rest of them would get so dusty with that work. If they were working on a job close to home, John and Joe would come over for lunch. Once  the girls were both in school, I started answering phones at the car dealership in the mornings, so they didn't come by for lunch anymore.

“Anyway, that's how I got this, oh, what do you call it, this plaque in my lungs. The doctor said it can take a while to develop, and it doesn't matter that I only lived with John for so long, and he only came home for lunch in the dusty clothes for about five years. I was having John and Joe, all covered in asbestos, in that little kitchen where I cooked half the day, and then I was still washing his work clothes for fifteen [years]. It was enough, the doctor said.”

Pleural plaque: the most common condition associated with asbestos exposure

Pleural plaques are thickened tissue around the lungs and diaphragm. As this tissue thickens and hardens, it can sometimes compress part of the lung, making it uncomfortable to breathe.

(http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/asb/asb_whatare.html)

Like Joan's doctor told her, pleural plaques develop many years after asbestos exposure—something pleural plaques have in common with all asbestos diseases. Unlike asbestosis, which John or Joe would be much more likely to contract after forty years of direct asbestos exposure, pleural plaques can arise from low levels of exposure.

Insulation and drywall installers' families put at risk as well

About the asbestos risks related to drywall and insulation work, the United States Department of Labor says:

“In making major renovations to old buildings or when putting new insulation around pipes and industrial machinery, insulation workers often must first remove the old insulation. In the past, asbestos—now known to cause cancer in humans—was used extensively in walls and ceilings and to cover pipes, boilers, and various industrial equipment.” (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos208.htm)

Like most people at the time, Joan had no idea that simply fixing her husband and his uncle lunch would expose her to a toxic substance.

Later studies confirm the risk wives of insulation and drywall installers face

Gary Friedman reports, in the 2006 anthology Asbestos: Risk Assessment, Epidemiology, and Health Effects, the findings of a 1986 study of the wives of insulation workers:

“In 1986, 117 wives of insulation workers were screened by means of chest radiographs by Sider and Holley. No women under the age of 40 had any abnormality. Ninety-three women were over the age of 40. Eighteen (19.4%) demonstrated pleural changes. Six of these women had diaphragmatic plaque. ... The only significant variable predicting the finding of these radiographic changes was the elapsed time from first exposure. The mean latency was 32.8 yr. The intensity and duration of the exposure appeared to be less significant.”

Weitz & Luxenberg can help victims of second-hand asbestos exposure