Shipfitters | Malignant Mesothelioma

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• History of asbestos exposure in shipfitters
• Research linking shipfitters to asbestos exposure
  

Ship Fitters and the Danger of Malignant Mesothlioma

Particularly during periods of wartime, shipbuilding has been a major activity and source of industry in America, and shipyards have been full of hard-working individuals. During World War II, the Korean War, and to a lesser extent during the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm, there have been hundreds of thousands of military men and women as well as civilians employed in U.S. shipyards for the construction and repair of Navy vessels. Indeed, it is estimated that 4.5 million Americans worked in shipyards in World War II alone! Shipfitters – those men and women who work with sheet metal applications on ships as well as handle plumbing duties - have been among those occupations often found in shipyards. These men and women have also been among one of the highest groups and industries to experience exposure to asbestos on an ongoing basis. Shipfitters and other workers in the shipbuilding trade now represent one of the largest groups at risk for developing asbestos-related diseases such as malignant mesothelioma. 

For shipfitters and others involved in the shipbuilding industry, particularly in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s – before regulation of asbestos was initiated – the opportunities to breathe asbestos dust were numerous, ongoing and chronic. Asbestos was exploited in the shipbuilding industry, as the mineral has remarkable fire-retardancy and heat-insulation capabilities. Boilers, steam pipes, hot water pipes…even nuclear reactors were covered, lined and coated with asbestos. Workers applying the asbestos inhaled it. Workers and fitters connecting various ship systems touched and loosened the material on equipment, thus breathing it. Even today, when asbestos is regulated, and its dangers are known, and the material is no longer used in the construction of these wartime ships, repairmen and women are still jeopardized by maintaining and repairing these older ships that are still in service.

The risk of developing asbestos-related diseases like malignant mesothelioma has been determined to increase with heavier exposure as well as with longer durations of exposure. There are medical studies available that show that 86% of workers with at least 20 years of experience as shipfitters and other shipbuilders have developed an asbestos-related disease, oftentimes asbestosis, lung cancer, or malignant mesothelioma. There are also studies showing that workers who had intense exposure to asbestos in the shipping yards for periods as short as one or two months have developed similar conditions. Since asbestos fibers are light and can travel by air easily, exposure to asbestos is not necessarily limited to shipyard workers in direct contact with the material. Office workers in shipyards, delivery personnel, security men and women….anyone in the proximity of the shipyard on a consistent basis has been at risk for asbestos exposure that could lead to malignant mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases and conditions. Given the lengthy, often decades-long dormancy involved with mesothelioma, it is only now that many men and women who worked in shipyards in the past as shipfitters are experiencing the consequences of their exposure to mesothelioma.

If you have been employed in the shipbuilding industry as a shipfitter or other member of a shipbuilding team and feel you have been exposed to asbestos during your work history, particularly if you know of other shipfitters or builders who have contracted malignant mesothelioma with whom you once worked, it is recommended that you seek counsel about your health condition and options. The Simmons firm cares and wants to help you with guidance and information. For the past decade, we have been assisting clients afflicted with mesothelioma – we understand the pain a mesothelioma diagnosis can cause and truly desire to be of assistance to victims and families struggling with this disease. In many cases, those in charge of building ships knew of the dangers of asbestos but did not bother to inform employees of the potential dangers involved with working with asbestos. Contact us today to learn more about treatment and diagnosis options.