Asbestos disease in United States shipyards

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos disease in United States shipyards, by I.J. Selikoff, R. Lilis, W.J. Nicholson (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1979).

The study

• Authors: I.J. Selikoff, R. Lilis, W.J. Nicholson
• Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
• Published: 1979;330:295-311
• Cited by: 67 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 001054).

Summary of the article

The authors examined whether asbestos-associated disease was a problem among United States shipyard workers. They reviewed wartime records showing that shipyard employment rose from 168,000 in June 1940 to 1,722,500 in December 1943, with high labor turnover. About one in 500 private-shipyard workers was an "asbestos worker," but other trades also had opportunity for exposure. They followed 440 insulation workers in nine shipyard union locals from 1967 through 1976. Of these, 79 died, including 39 from cancer (16.21 expected), 21 from lung cancer (5.73 expected) and 8 from mesothelioma. Asbestosis caused 17.8% of deaths among shipyard insulators and 7.8% among other insulators. The shipyard figure rested on only 13 asbestosis deaths, and mortality otherwise did not differ substantially between the groups. In 1975-1976 the authors examined 1000 volunteer workers at a shipyard in Groton, Connecticut. A panel of five readers classified chest x-rays using the ILO U/C classification. Abnormalities were found in 459 workers (45.9%): 274 of 636 less than 20 years from onset of exposure and 185 of 364 at 20 or more years. Excluding insulators, prevalence rose from 13.9% at 0-9 years from onset to 61.0% at 30 or more years. No trade was free of changes. The authors concluded that past asbestos exposure was common across shipyard trades. They recommended avoiding further exposure, informing exposed workers and developing medical surveillance.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This article reviewed U.S. shipyard employment and asbestos exposure and reported two studies by the authors. First, the authors followed 440 members of nine shipyard-only locals of an insulation workers' union from 1967 through 1976. Of the 440, 79 died. There were 39 cancer deaths where 16.21 were expected, including 21 lung cancers (5.73 expected) and 8 mesotheliomas (3 pleural, 5 peritoneal). Among men 20 or more years from first exposure, asbestosis caused 17.8% of deaths among shipyard insulators versus 7.8% among 11,662 other insulators, based on only 13 shipyard asbestosis deaths. Overall, shipyard insulators' mortality did not differ substantially from that of insulators in general. Second, in 1975 and 1976 the authors X-rayed 1000 volunteer workers at a shipyard in Groton, Connecticut. X-ray changes of the type seen after asbestos exposure appeared in 274 of 636 workers under 20 years from first exposure and 185 of 364 at 20 or more years. The authors cautioned that volunteers might not represent the workforce. They concluded that past exposure was common among shipyard trades and intense enough to produce lung and pleural fibrosis in many workers.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Two studies by the authors, set against background data on shipyard employment and exposure: a prospective mortality study of union insulation workers in shipyard locals, compared with insulators in other locals, and a cross-sectional chest X-ray survey of volunteer shipyard workers
• Who was studied: Mortality study: 440 members of the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators registered in nine locals serving only shipyards, followed January 1, 1967 to December 31, 1976. They were compared with insulators in other locals (11,662 men 20 or more years from onset). X-ray survey: 1000 volunteer current workers at a shipyard in Groton, Connecticut, examined 1975 to 1976, largely those whose employment had begun 15 or more years before
• Exposure: Asbestos exposure in shipyard work, direct or indirect, across many trades including insulation work. The authors described amosite being added to chrysotile just before and during World War II
• Main results:
  • Among the 440 shipyard insulation workers, 79 died during the decade of observation (3986 man-years)
  • Among the 440 shipyard insulation workers, 39 cancer deaths were observed where 16.21 were expected
  • Among the 440 shipyard insulation workers there were 21 lung cancers (5.73 expected) and 8 mesotheliomas (3 pleural, 5 peritoneal)
  • Among insulators 20 or more years from onset, 17.8% of deaths in the shipyard group were due to asbestosis, compared with 7.8% among insulators not in shipyard locals
  • Overall, mortality of shipyard insulators did not differ substantially from that of insulation workers in general
  • In the Groton X-ray survey, some abnormality was found in 274 of 636 workers less than 20 years from onset of exposure and in 185 of 364 workers 20 or more years from onset (459 of 1000, 45.9%, in total per Table 15)
  • Parenchymal (lung tissue) changes were found in 29.6% of the under-20-year group and 36.8% of the 20-or-more-year group. Pleural changes were found in 23.1% and 29.7% respectively
  • Excluding insulators, the share with abnormalities was 13.9% at 0 to 9 years from onset, 41.7% at 10 to 19 years, 52.2% at 20 to 29 years and 61.0% at 30 or more years
  • Changes were found in every trade examined, including painters, electricians, carpenters, machinists, boilermakers and welders
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that their data suggest asbestos exposure during shipyard employment was common in the past among the many trades, and intense enough to produce X-ray changes of parenchymal and pleural fibrosis in a considerable number of shipyard workers. They also wrote that many former shipyard workers may be at increased risk of asbestos-associated cancers, the full extent of which is not known
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The X-ray subjects were volunteers, and the authors could not know whether they represented the whole workforce or their job categories
  • The higher share of asbestosis deaths among shipyard insulators rested on only 13 deaths and needs further observation
  • Some men in the non-shipyard comparison locals had also worked in shipyards
  • Few older workers were surveyed: only 364 had begun shipyard employment before 1956
  • Estimates for less common crafts were less certain because fewer workers were examined
  • The authors considered it unrealistic to establish accurate lifetime cumulative exposures for individual shipyard workers

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis, Shipyards and maritime work.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Insulator, Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, Chest X-Ray, Asbestos Exposure.

Related studies

• Asbestos-associated disease in United States shipyards — I.J. Selikoff, E.C. Hammond (1978)
• Lung cancer mortality in the United States: shipyard correlations — W.J. Blot, J.F. Fraumeni (1979)
• Recent geographic patterns of lung cancer and mesothelioma mortality rates in 49 shipyard counties in the United States, 1970-94 — A. Jemal, D. Grauman, et al. (2000)
• Asbestotic radiological abnormalities among United States merchant marine seamen — I.J. Selikoff, R. Lilis, et al. (1990)
• Lung cancer prevalence among shipyard workers — W.J. Nicholson, R. Lilis, et al. (1980)
• Radiographic search for asbestos-related disease in a naval shipyard — J.S. Felton (1979)

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