Document 2JXBrzmaJxXawL6MV1qvLJLB6

FILE NAME: New York State & NY Times (NY) DATE: 1972 Sept 30 DOC#: NY045 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: NYT Article - Shipyard Workers of 1940's Told of Cancer Peril Shipyard W orkers o f 1940's Told o f Cancer Peril By JANE E. BRODY Special to The New York Times New York Times (1857-Currentfile); Sep 30,1972; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2002) pg.62 S h ip y a r d W o r k e r s o f 1940*s T o ld o f C ancer T e r il B y JA N E E. BRODY _ S p e c ia l to T he New Y ork T im i W s ANGELES. Sept. 29--An expert on environmental medi- i,116 ^ rned ^ere today that JM millions of men and women who were directly or indirectly exposed to asbestos while they worked in shipyards in World w ar II faced the possibility of an imminent "epidemic" of a once-rare cancer. ..The cancer is called meso thelioma, a tumor of the lining or the chest or abdomen. At Psent. it is invariably fatal, although the lives of some vic tims can be prolonged for as long as five' years. Research indicates that meso thelioma as caused primarily by exposure to asbestos parti cles, which lodge in body tissues and remain there indefi nitely, the expert, Dr. Irving J. Selikoff, told the Seventh Na tional Cancer Conference. Dr. Selikoff, who has been studying the effects of expo sure to asbestos for two dec ades, is director of the Environmental Sciences Labo ratory a t Mount Sinai School of Medicine ip New York. Studies by Dr. Selikoff have shown th at 7 per cent of as bestos insulation workers suc cumb to mesothelioma. Now, the doctor said. It appears that even people who did not work direct ly with asbestos but who were indirectly exposed to asbestos, particles may also be in danger of developing the disease, which tends to occur about 30 years after the initial exposure to asbestos. Among those now in danger,' Dr. Selikoff said, are the 3% million Americans who' worked in shipyards in the early nine-, teen forties. His warning wasi echoed by Dr. .Frank Rauscher,; director of the National Cancer Institute, who urged such work ers to get periodic checkups, including chest X-rays. ; Dr. Selikoff said that he and others had already noticed a dramatic increase in the occur rence of mesothelioma, which a decade ago accounted for only one or two deaths in 10,000. Dr. Selikoff said that the Brit ish, whose shipyards were re built about, five years before American shipyards geared up for the war effort, began no ticing mesothelioma cases among former shipyard work ers .four years ago. "Such cases are already be ing seen in our country." he told the meeting, which is sponsored by the National Can cer Institute and the American Cancer Society. "In the past year, a number .of such World War II mesotheliomas have been brought to our attention. "The last five cases had worked in East or West Coast shipyards--as an electrician, a tinsmith, an engineer, a steam- fitter and a welder." None worked directly with asbestos, he said, but were un doubtedly exposed indirectly by co-workers w ho did. A sixth case that he investi gated was a man who died of mesothelioma a t the age of 39 and who had never worked in a shipyard. B ut much asbestos was found in the man's lungs, and, his history showed, he was born in 1940 just two blocks from th e Brooklyn Navy Yard. . Dr. Selikoff also expressed concern about the possible risks faced b y people in the eneral urban population who ad neither direct nor indirect occupational exposure to as bestos but w ere likely to inhale the tiny particles from a wide variety of environmental sources. These sources, he said, 'include buildings under con struction, papier-mftchd, asbes tos-lined air-conditioning ducts, brake linings and some ironing board covers. United States production of asbestos has increased from 500,000 tons a year in 1930 to four million tons a year cur rently, he said. Dr. Selikoff added that anal ysis of air samples from 60 American cities snowed that all had asbestos particles in the air, and that nearly everyone on whom an autopsy was per formed was found to have some asbestos particles in his lungs. In asbestos workers, the min eral particles have also been found to enhance the develop ment of smoking-related lung cancer, which kills 20 per cent of these workers. Mesothelioma occurs as mul tiple tumors that, in the chest, produce such symptoms as pain, coughs and a sense of fullness. The disease can be detected in its eariy stages by chest X-ray. In the abdomen, however, early symptoms rarely occur, and it is not until the abdomen swells late in the disease that it is usually diagnosed, Dr. Seli koff said. Although the disease cannot now be cured, the use ful lives of many patients can be prolonged by surgery, radia tion and chemotherapy. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.