[Fatal pleural mesothelioma diseases caused by familial household contacts with asbestos fiber dust].

The case histories of a family are described where 3 out of 4 developed asbestos-related diseases. Only the husband had direct occupational exposure handling blue-asbestos materials while working in a producing insulating factory in 1950-59. He died of pulmonary asbestosis as an occupational disease. His wife and his son died of asbestos related mesothelioma. Detailed exposure history revealed exposure to asbestos by laundering her husband's contaminated working clothes. His son was exposed to asbestos during childhood by helping his mother laundering the father's working clothes and in addition by visiting his father's working place regularly. The significance of nonoccupational exposure to asbestos is emphasized as a causative factor in the development of malignant mesothelioma.