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How Can a Shipyard Insulator Get Mesothelioma by Occupational Exposure to Asbestos?
Asbestos was contained in many types of insulation that were commonly used on ships. Additionally, it was included in other products that shipyard insulators came in contact with on a daily basis. When the fibers from these materials became dislodged, shipyard insulators could have breathed them in. The fibers could eventually cause mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.
Locations in the United States for the Highest Employment Rates for Insulation Workers
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are currently more than 58,600 insulation workers employed in the United States. States with the highest employment rates for floor, ceiling and wall insulation workers include:
- Texas
- California
- Florida
- Louisiana
- Virginia
Similar Occupations as Shipyard Insulators
Similar occupations as shipyard insulators include the following:
- Boilermakers
- Construction workers and laborers
- Deck crew
- Drywall and ceiling tile installers and tapers
- Hazardous materials removal workers
- Laggers
- Machinist mates
Lawsuits and Settlements Involving Shipyard Insulators and Mesothelioma
There have been several significant legal victories for insulators, shipyard workers and their families. One man who was formerly employed at Mare Island Naval Shipyard received a jury verdict in 1995 for $315,000 after the jury found Metalclad Insulation Corporation was partially responsible for the man’s development of lung cancer. The man had worked on shipyards and steel mills from 1944 to 1961 and then started working at the shipyard to build and repair nuclear submarines until 1973. Here, he was exposed to asbestos. The defendant had sold asbestos products to the shipyard for the construction of submarines, including insulation materials.
A New Orleans jury returned a verdict of nearly $5.5 million in favor of the family of a man who worked at the shipyard Main Iron Works who was exposed to asbestos while working as an insulator there. In 2009, a jury awarded $6 million to a former machinist mate after he developed an asbestos-related disease caused by his exposure to asbestos-containing insulation jackets.
A California jury awarded more than $27 million to the wife of a former Owens-Illinois insulator who was exposed to asbestos while laundering her husband’s work clothing. The verdict included $11 million in punitive damages because the jury found that the defendant intentionally misled consumers about health hazards and failed to adequately warn them about the dangers of their products.
Studies Related to Shipyard Insulators and Asbestos
A few scientific studies have explored the connection between insulation and asbestos. A study published in the British Journal of Industrial Medicine found a statistically significant number of deaths among insulators of asbestos-related diseases. A 2016 Swedish study published in Epidemiology and Health found that the rate of pleural mesothelioma for insulators was more than 10 times higher than the rate for the general population.
In the study entitled “Mortality among Shipyard Coast Guard workers: a retrospective cohort study,” researchers followed up on 4,700 men and women who built and maintained seagoing vessels in a follow-up study to determine the cause of death of these individuals. They observed an excessive number of deaths caused by diffuse malignant mesothelioma and respiratory cancer.
Similarly, researchers who published a study in the Environmental Health Perspectives found that insulators at a Navy shipyard in Japan had a higher lung cancer mortality rate than other workers.
It was not until the 1960s and 1970s when researchers found high rates of asbestos disease in shipyard workers in the UK, Netherlands and United States that people began to take the threat of asbestos exposure seriously.
Types of Asbestos Products Used by Shipyard Insulators
Shipyard insulators likely would have come in contact with insulation that contained asbestos if they worked on ships before the 1980s due to the prevalence of this material in insulation. Additionally, they worked in confined spaces where other asbestos-containing materials were used, such as gaskets, packing and tape. The Navy allowed more than 300 asbestos-containing materials to be used to construct their ships, including:
- Boilers
- Pipe insulation
- Pumps
- Valves
- Adhesives
- Tubes
- Thermal materials
- Deck covering materials
- Paneling
- Grinders
- Hydraulic assemblies
- Cables
Manufacturers of Asbestos Products Used by Shipyard Insulators
Johns Manville was the biggest manufacturer to supply insulation to the Navy. Shipyards where asbestos exposure may have occurred include:
- Alabama Dry Dock
- Albina Shipyard
- Barbours Cut Docks
- Bethlehem Steel Shipyard
- Bremerton Naval Shipyard
- Brooklyn Navy Yard
- Caddell Dry Dock
- California Navy Shipyard
- Charleston Naval Shipyard
- Consolidated Steel Shipyards
- Curtis Bay Coast Guard Yard
- Defoe Shipyard
- Duwamish Shipyard
- Galveston Docks
- General Dynamics
- Groton Naval Base
- Houston Shipyards
- Hunters Point Naval Shipyard
- Ingalls Shipbuilding
- Kane Shipbuilding
- Kaiser Shipyard
- Lockheed Shipyard
- Long Beach Naval Shipyard
- Moore Dry Dock
- Naval Station Everett
- Newport News Naval Shipyard
- New York Shipbuilding Corporation
- Norfolk Naval Shipyard
- Orange Shipbuilding
- Pearl Harbor Shipyard
- Pensacola Naval Air Station
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
- San Diego Naval Shipyard
- San Francisco Drydock
- Seward Ships Drydock
- Sun Shipbuilding
- Tacoma Drydock
- Todd Shipyards
- Washington Navy Yard
- Willamette Iron and Steel Works
