Distant health effects of using asbestos in shipyards and in co-operating plants.

A survey was conducted during a 15-years period (1981-1994) among a group of workers employed in shipyards and in cooperating plants, who were exposed to asbestos. In a group of 681 people surveyed a growing incidence of asbestosis of the lung was revealed: from 3.9% in 1981 to 17.9% in 1994. Since 1990, 19 persons have been found to have malignant neoplasms, in that number in 9 cases the location of neoplasm was evidently associated with the effects of the asbestos dust (3 mesotheliomas of the pleura and 6 bronchial cancers of the lungs). The smoking habit was probably a contributing factor in the occurrence of these diseases.