Asbestos link to cancer death

8:48am Wednesday 15th October 2008

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A MONKTON Heathfield woman who was exposed to large amounts of asbestos as a young woman died after contracting a type of lung cancer linked to the substance, an inquest has heard.

Cheryl Wallington, who was 60, was exposed to asbestos at a hospital in Watford in the 1960s while when she worked in the X-ray department while studying to become an accountant.

Her husband Geoff said Mrs Wallington had been required to retrieve film and other items from a “very dusty and confined, stuffy room.”

She said Mrs Wallington lived a fit and healthy life, and never smoked, but last year developed mesothelioma which is strongly linked to asbestos.

West Somerset Coroner Michael Rose said the disease generally takes between 20 and 40 years to occur following asbestos exposure but once diagnosed patients normally only live for between nine months and two years.

He said that 20 years ago he had no such cases to consider, whereas nowadays he came across 13 to 14 a year.

He said the dangers of asbestos were known about at the turn of the 20th century but no decent steps were taken to protect the public until the 1970s.

Mr Rose said there was a “very real possibility” that Mrs Wallington had inhaled asbestos as a young woman but he could not give that as a cause of death because experts believe it is possible to develop the disease without exposure.

He therefore returned a verdict that Mrs Wallington died of pneumonia after contracting mesothelioma.