Shipyard workers and asbestos: a persistent and international problem

Our plain-English summary of Shipyard workers and asbestos: a persistent and international problem, by W.S. Beckett (Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2007).

The study

• Author: W.S. Beckett
• Journal: Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Published: 2007;64(10):639-41
• Type of article: Comment, Editorial
• Cited by: 12 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

Recycling ships for scrap also recycles the asbestos hazard

In plain English

This was an editorial, not a research study, and it presented no new data. The author commented on a separate study by Krstev and colleagues, published in the same journal issue. That study followed 4700 men and women at a US shipyard and reported excess deaths from diffuse malignant mesothelioma of the pleura and peritoneum and from respiratory cancer, which those researchers attributed to asbestos exposure in the years 1950–64. The author described how asbestos was used to insulate the hulls, boilers and pipes of military vessels, and argued that the shipyard asbestos problem is not over. The author noted that shipyard workers in Japan continue to be diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases. Investigators from India's National Institute for Occupational Health had confirmed early asbestos-induced changes on the radiographs of current workers in Gujarati ship-breaking. The author also stated that the Krstev authors wrongly believed asbestos was completely banned in the US in the 1970s. The author concluded that the persistence of asbestos argues for an end to removing it from the earth.

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: Editorial (commentary on another study in the same issue); no original data
• Who was studied: The author studied no population. The editorial discusses shipyard and ship-breaking workers internationally, and comments on Krstev and colleagues' cause-of-death follow-up study of 4700 men and women at a US shipyard.
• Exposure: Asbestos used to insulate ships (hulls, boilers and pipes of military vessels), and asbestos released in ship-breaking. No fiber type is specified.
• Main results:
  • Krstev and colleagues (not this author) reported an excess of diffuse malignant mesothelioma of the pleura and peritoneum among US shipyard workers exposed to asbestos in 1950–64.
  • The author stated that shipyard workers in Japan continue to be diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases.
  • The author reported that investigators from India's National Institute for Occupational Health confirmed early asbestos-induced changes on the radiographs of current workers in the Gujarati ship-breaking industry.
  • The author reported that public outcry in India in 2006 sent the French aircraft carrier Clemenceau back to France to have its asbestos abated.
  • The author stated that the Krstev authors share a misconception that asbestos was completely banned in the US in the 1970s. According to the author, a ban attempt was blocked and imported asbestos is still used in a few commercial products in the US.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the long environmental persistence of asbestos and its persistent health effects argue for an end to removing it from the earth, to prevent illness in future generations.

Topics

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

Related studies

• Shipyard health problems — B.G. Ferris (1976)
• Mortality among shipyard workers in Genoa, Italy — R. Puntoni, M. Vercelli, et al. (1979)
• Mortality among shipyard Coast Guard workers: a retrospective cohort study — S. Krstev, P. Stewart, et al. (2007)
• Incidence of bronchial carcinoma in shipyard workers with pleural plaques — J.R. Edge (1979)
• Prevalence of radiographic abnormalities among Northern California shipyard workers — P.L. Polakoff, B.R. Horn, et al. (1979)
• Asbestosis, pulmonary symptoms and functional impairment in shipyard workers — K.H. Kilburn, R. Warshaw, et al. (1985)

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