Entire Family Stricken by Mesothelioma

April 18 , 2006 - One Canadian family is learning what it means to be asbestos “bystanders”; individuals who never worked with asbestos yet are suffering the ill effects of asbestos inhalation. 

The O’Donnell Family of Campelltown, Ontario lost their father 9 years ago to mesothelioma at the age of 76.  His disease wasn’t a surprise.  He had worked for 25 years at a Johns-Manville plant in eastern Toronto, once dubbed a “world-class occupational health disaster” by the federal government. 

Mr. O’Donnell was a good provider for his family, bringing home enough money to maintain a happy lifestyle.  But what O’Donnell didn’t realize he was bringing home was enough asbestos fibers to sicken his whole family.  The two oldest O’Donnell children succumbed to mesothelioma in their 50s.  The youngest son, Tom, is now fighting the disease at age 48.

Though cases of second-hand asbestos exposure or “bystander” exposure have been thought to be rare, more such instances are surfacing worldwide.  The O’Donnell family crisis is assumed to be caused by the large amount of asbestos dust that came into the family home on the elder O’Donnell’s clothes after a long day at Johns-Manville, which is now defunct.

Sadly, children of individuals like Mr. O’Donnell are exposed at a much younger age than their fathers or mothers, meaning that they are also dying much sooner.  Whereas employees of companies like Johns-Manville were probably exposed sometime during their 30s to 60s, their children were unknowingly breathing in asbestos during the early years of their lives.  That means they’re dying in their 40s and 50s, after a latency period of 30 to 40 years, which is common with mesothelioma.

Canada continues to mine asbestos and promote its use abroad and has no national registry of asbestos-related illness cases because of that.  However, many officials recognize asbestos-caused diseases like mesothelioma as a serious health problem throughout Canada, particularly in Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta, where the material is mined.

The “bystander” issue continues to arise more and more often, notes Jim Brophy, executive director of an occupational health clinic in Ontario.  His clinic has tracked 109 people since 1998 who either have asbestos-related diseases or have scarring in their chests suggestive of contact with asbestos, but for whom no workplace exposure existed.