April 25th, 2007
Many Canadian sailors that served in the Navy between the time of World War II and 1970 are now concerned about their health, with fears that they may have endangered their health and even their lives through their work. It is thought that many of these sailors may have developed respiratory problems and even more serious problems such as lung cancer as a result of exposure to asbestos on the ships that they worked on during this period.
One asbestos related disease known as mesothelioma, which is a malignant form of cancer directly linked to exposure to asbestos, can take an average of twenty to forty years to develop, and can sometime take longer – this means that some sailors that were exposed in the 1970s may not even be aware that they have contracted this diseases. However, following the onset of symptoms, most victims of this form of cancer die within a year.
Bob Chow, service operator at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 256 stated: “We’re aware of it and I’ve done some research into asbestos related upper body respiratory ailments, as Veterans Affairs is calling it – more specifically lung cancer. From what I understand asbestos is a fairly easy thing to diagnose. Its fibres sort of attach themselves to the lung.”
According to official figures around eighteen thousand men and women may have been affected by exposure to asbestos during these periods. Veteran Affairs is now dealing with those that have gone on to develop cancer as a result of exposure. One spokeswoman from Veteran Affairs stated: “We’re asking that anybody who feels they may be affected by this come forward. We encourage our veterans to contact us so we can verify their service history and we can begin the process.”
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