Brief Secondary Asbestos Exposure Kills Woman
A British woman who washed her husband’s asbestos covered clothes for nine months in 1962 has died of mesothelioma. Her only known link to the dangerous mineral is when her husband worked as a builder’s merchant during that time period more than 45 years ago.
According to an article in a Wiltshire (England) newspaper, Olive Brown, of Sassoon Walk, Marlborough, was diagnosed with mesothelioma - an asbestos cancer - in April last year. Her health began to deteriorate quickly and she died in September.
Her husband Eric, age 77, who is in good health, says he was exposed to asbestos insulation on a daily basis during his short stint as a construction worker. He would come home with his clothes covered in asbestos dust, he told the newspaper. Mrs. Brown would shake out his overalls and then wash them.
“I only worked for them for nine months and it cost me my wife’s life,” said Mr. Brown. “I feel awful about what my wife went through, but she put on a brave front and not once did she complain.”
“But I’m very pragmatic. It’s happened. You can’t turn the clock back, unfortunately, so what’s the point of getting angry?” he added. “You didn’t realize you were handling it. They say ignorance is bliss.”
Brown admits that he was totally unaware of the dangers of asbestos and certainly didn’t think it would affect his wife’s health decades later.
In the hardware store where he once worked, they would frequently sell asbestos products such as asbestos stove mats, Brown said. “Asbestos was a normal material and we sold all sorts of asbestos products,” he added.