Mesothelioma from dusty environment

Yvonne Moaby did not have a factory job that brought her into contact with asbestos. She was a housewife in the Cotswalds area of Great Britain. Yet, Mrs. Moaby, who had been healthy and fit for most of her life, died at age 66 in May of mesothelioma, a cancer related to asbestos exposure.

For years, Mrs. Moaby washed the clothes of her husband John who worked an electrician in the 1960s and was frequently exposed to asbestos when removing storage heaters, according to a coroner’s inquest into Mrs. Moaby’s death. While less common than workplace exposure to asbestos, second-hand exposure to asbestos can be deadly for family members of asbestos workers. Family members are susceptible to developing asbestos-related diseases including mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer from second-hand exposure.

John Moaby recalled at the coroner’s hearing that he worked in a dusty environment and when he would come home, his wife would shake his clothes and dust would fly off.

Mrs. Moaby had been fit and healthy throughout her life, but started complaining of chest pains when she walked and exercised. Tests for cardiovascular disease came back negative—a reminder of the difficulty that doctors often have diagnosing mesothelioma at an early stage. She was eventually diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2009, started chemotherapy in February 2010 and died in May.

Gloucestershire coroner Alan Crickmore said he was convinced the cause of Mrs. Moaby’s mesothelioma was asbestos dust from her husband’s clothing. “She died as so many housewives do when they come into contact with dust after shaking out laundry,” Crickmore said, according to the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard newspaper.

In the U.S., 2,500 to 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year and many develop lung cancer and asbestosis from asbestos exposure 20 to 40 years earlier.