Recent Veteran Asbestos Exposure

                 Although the U.S. Navy fitted vessels with asbestos-containing materials predominately from the 1930s through the 1980s, many veterans were still exposed to the toxic substance even after the Navy “stopped” using asbestos (the Navy still uses asbestos-containing products since asbestos is not banned in the U.S.).  Primarily used for the compound's extreme fire resistance, the Navy valued asbestos so much that it even mandated the use of asbestos-containing materials and incorporated the deadly substance in more than 300 materials. Asbestos exposure is the only known cause of a rare cancer called mesothelioma

With all this asbestos being used for more than six decades, a myriad of vessels were fitted with the deadly material.  Once the toxic hazards of asbestos were scientifically and irrefutably proven in the 1970s and ’80s, a new phase of veteran asbestos exposure began.  The Navy finally recognized asbestos should not be in ships and shipyards and began to replace these materials.  

Despite knowing asbestos posed a threat to human health in the early 1920s, the Navy kept using asbestos products on a widespread scale until the 1980s.  In 1922, a medical bulletin was issued by the Navy that put asbestos work on a list of hazardous occupations, and even suggested the use of respirators.  When the late 1930s rolled around, corpsmen were provided with handbooks advising them of asbestos hazards.  However, the Navy neglected to enforce its own recommendations and made little or no effort to inform sailors of the real dangers of asbestos exposure. This has resulted in thousands of veterans being diagnosed with asbestos cancer

By the 1970s, the Environmental Protection Agency began an asbestos reform campaign.  But the Navy was surprisingly slow to respond.  In fact, it wasn't until 1983 that the first Navy Occupational Safety and Health (NAVOSH) Program Manual was put in place, which applies to all Navy civilian and military personnel and includes operations ashore or afloat.  Another program called the Navy Asbestos Control Program (part of NAVOSH) ensures compliance with asbestos-related regulations set by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

                In spite of these measures, countless veterans have been exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos since the 1980s, when the Navy finally started to reduce their extensive asbestos usage and began replacing the caustic substance.  Naval shipyards across the country began a mass overhaul of asbestos-contaminated ships, removing and replacing countless asbestos-containing materials using substandard safety measures in many situations.  In some cases respirators were utilized, but not all, and even this cannot prevent asbestos exposure 100 percent.     

By the early 1990s, the Navy started selling obsolete ships for scrap materials, primarily to foreign countries with little or no asbestos regulations.  The dismantling of such toxic ships takes place in depressed ports all too often, where workers have no training on how to handle asbestos and no protective measures are taken.  Unfortunately, decontaminating asbestos-laden warships has become a global issue, spanning both affluent and third-world countries.  

Though it may come as a shock to many, some naval ships still harbor asbestos materials—as the fibers may be imbedded in gaskets, brakes, clutches, or older construction materials. Despairingly, until strong and obligatory regulations are implemented on the use and handling of this toxic substance, asbestos will continue to afflict another generation of innocent individuals.

For more information on asbestos and pleural mesothelioma, please visit the Asbestos and Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com