A man's death from cancer was "highly probably" caused by exposure to asbestos while he worked for Arthur Guinness & Sons, an inquest jury found yesterday. A verdict of death by occupational disease was returned by a jury in the Dublin City Coroner's Court.
Mr John May, Kincora Road, Clontarf, Dublin, died on September 23rd, 2001, aged 65, at the Mater Hospital, from cancer of the lining between the lung and chest wall. He had worked in the power station of what was then Arthur Guinness Son & Co (Dublin) Ltd, at James's Street, from 1961 until 1991.
Dr Finbarr O'Connor, consultant respiratory physician at St James's Hospital, said Mr May had been referred to him by a doctor in the Guinness medical department in February 2000.
Mr May was a very fit man. He had never smoked, drank little alcohol and was still active in sport, being a football referee. He first presented with a dry cough.
Mr May had told him he was exposed to asbestos, which was used to lag boilers and pipes. He was diagnosed with the cancer, which was not treatable, and he deteriorated rapidly.
Dr O'Connor said he formed the opinion the cancer had been caused by exposure to asbestos based on the type of cancer and on the history of Mr May's work.
He said asbestos exposure may cause five conditions: small benign lumps between the lung and chest wall; a thickening of the whole lining of the lung; asbestosis, in which scar-tissue forms in the lungs, causing shortness of breath; the malignant carcinoma between the chest wall and lung; and lung cancer. Mr May had the benign lumps and the malignant tumour in the cavities.
Dr O'Connor said scientific evidence showed that if a patient suffered from the type of cancer Mr May had, there was a 70 to 80 per cent chance they had been exposed to asbestos.
The coroner, Mr Brian Farrell, asked Dr O'Connor if, in his opinion, the development of the carcinoma was probably caused by asbestos exposure. "That is my firm opinion," Dr O'Connor said. The time lag for the development of disease after exposure could be 20 to 30 years, he said.
Two men who had worked with Mr May in the power plant gave evidence.
Mr John Madden said he worked with Mr May from 1965/66 until 1991. He said he knew asbestos was used to lag the boilers and the pipes because in the late 1980s a company came to remove it. They put it into red bags which said "Asbestos".
He said every seven years, one of the boilers was stripped down and they had to wire-brush any asbestos which was left. Employees from the other company had sophisticated masks, overalls and went to a shower area. They were not issued with dust masks in the 1960s, and wore overalls and gloves.
Mr Richard Gallagher said he worked there from 1958 until he retired. He said there were a few signs around saying "Do not breathe asbestos dust". The maintenance people sometimes left lagging on the ground.
The jury said it was highly probable that the cancer was caused by exposure to asbestos.
The coroner said this was the second case of a verdict of occupational disease in a week. Neither had been reported by the hospital where the person had died.
"I would remind hospitals that any death due to occupational or industrial diseases was mandatorily required to be reported to the coroner's court," he said.