Shipyard health problems

Our plain-English summary of Shipyard health problems, by B.G. Ferris (Environmental Research, 1976).

The study

• Author: B.G. Ferris
• Journal: Environmental Research
• Published: 1976;11(2):140-50
• Cited by: 3 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. 002275).

In plain English

This 1976 conference paper reviewed shipyard hazards and earlier Harvard studies of shipyard workers, updating some data. The authors re-examined a World War II X-ray survey of 1074 men in four shipyards, where pipe coverers handled mainly amosite asbestos. Asbestosis appeared only among men with 10 or more years of exposure, averaging 6% in that group. Since every case occurred after more than 20 years, the authors said the risk at that longer exposure was certainly greater than 6% and possibly above 22%. A 1965 resurvey of one new-construction yard (101 pipe coverers, 94 pipe fitter controls) found no asbestosis below 10 years of exposure and 38% at 20 or more years, at dust levels near what was then considered safe. Later follow-up found higher mortality in pipe coverers than pipe fitters, partly from mesothelioma. At a repair yard, 10 of 61 pipe coverers had X-ray changes of definite asbestosis; no pipe fitters or welders did. The authors concluded that asbestosis could still be expected after 20-30 years at these levels and supported lowering threshold limit values.

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: Conference overview paper reviewing earlier shipyard health studies by the authors' institution, with some previously unpublished follow-up data
• Who was studied: There were three groups. The first was 1074 men surveyed by chest X-ray in four shipyards during World War II (an earlier study). The second was 101 pipe coverers and 94 matched pipe fitter controls resurveyed in 1965 at a U.S. new-construction yard and followed to 1972. The third was 61 pipe coverers, 63 pipe fitters and 61 welders at a repair yard.
• Exposure: Asbestos pipe-covering work. Pipe coverers in the World War II survey handled primarily amosite asbestos. At the new-construction yard, midget impinger dust counts ranged from 10.0 to 0.8 mppcf, with a weighted average of 5.2 mppcf. At the repair yard, time-weighted daily exposures were probably close to 5 mppcf, and mean fiber counts were 0.3 to 2.9 fibers per milliliter.
• Main results:
  • In the authors' re-examination of the World War II survey, asbestosis risk was found only in men with 10 or more years of exposure. The average rate in that group was 6%, ranging from 22% to 0% across the yards.
  • In the World War II survey, the three cases occurred in men with more than 20 years of exposure. The size of that group was not reported, so the authors said the risk for those men was certainly greater than 6% and may well have been more than 22%.
  • In the 1965 new-construction yard survey, asbestosis was never diagnosed in pipe coverers with less than 10 years of cumulative exposure. Among those with 20 or more years of cumulative exposure, the rate was 38%.
  • In follow-up of the new-construction yard group, pipe coverers had higher mortality than the pipe fitter controls. As printed in Table 3, 3 pipe coverers had died by 1967 and 8 by 1972, compared with 0 and 4 pipe fitters.
  • The authors attributed some of the excess deaths among pipe coverers to mesothelioma.
  • At the repair yard, chest X-ray changes consistent with definite asbestosis were found in 10 of 61 pipe coverers and in none of the pipe fitters or welders.
  • Among repair-yard pipe coverers, the prevalence of these X-ray changes was 13.6% for men under 45 and 18% for men 45 or older.
  • All three repair-yard groups had lower simple lung-function values than pipe fitters at the new-construction yard. Diffusing capacity, however, was decreased only in the repair-yard pipe coverers. Cigarette smoking was also associated with decreased diffusing capacity.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, even at the relatively low exposure levels measured, cases of asbestosis can be expected after 20 to 30 years of exposure. They supported the proposed reduction in threshold limit values. They also called for continued follow-up of shipyard workers and for study of small particles.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Analyses of the latest follow-up were not yet complete.
  • The number of men available dropped over follow-up.
  • Ultramicroscopic particles were not counted by the measurement methods used.
  • Exposure at the repair yard was hard to characterize because of the wide range of activities there.
  • The earlier World War II survey did not report how many men had 20 or more years of exposure, so the risk could not be estimated precisely.

Topics

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

Related studies

• Industrial hygiene and occupational health studies in Australian (New South Wales) shipyards — A. Bell (1976)
• Asbestos exposure control at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard — R.R. Beckett (1976)
• Shipyard workers and asbestos: a persistent and international problem — W.S. Beckett (2007)
• Case-control study of lung cancer in civilian employees at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine — R.A. Rinsky, J.M. Melius, et al. (1988)
• Incidence of lung cancer among shipyard welders investigated for siderosis — T.E. Danielsen, S. Lang rd, et al. (1998)
• Asbestos exposure during naval vessel overhaul — W.T. Marr (1964)

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