Gaywood welder's death was smoking-related
A GAYWOOD man who was exposed to asbestos dust while fitting pipework in the 1960s died from natural causes linked to smoking, an inquest heard on Thursday.
Greater Norfolk coroner William Armstrong told the Lynn hearing that in June, 2006, former welder Raymond Plumb (75) made a statement to his solicitors, detailing his medical and work history, after being told that hospital scans showed he had asbestos on the lungs.
In it, Mr Plumb, of South Wootton Lane, said he had suffered from chest problems for about ten years and was using inhalers. He had started smoking while at school and got through 15 to 20 cigarettes a day.
While pipe-fitting in the 1960s, he had to strip areas of asbestos lagging and split and empty bags of asbestos, while wearing no mask. He recalled seeing "clouds of dust" while doing this work.
"At the time, we didn't think it was a dangerous material – I didn't even have a mask," his statement said.
But retired pathologist Dr Rosemary Eames, who carried out the post mortem on Mr Plumb after he died at Lynn's Queen Elizabeth Hospital on August 29 last year, said "very severe pneumonia" was the main cause of death.
He also had severe emphysema, localised areas of thickening in the membrane surrounding his lungs, evidence of heart failure and coronary disease.
When Greater Norfolk coroner William Armstrong asked her if there was any evidence that exposure to asbestos caused any of the conditions contributing to his death, Dr Eames replied: "No." She said the most common signs of asbestos exposure were localised thickening of membranes around the lungs, widespread cuts caused by the industrial lung disease asbestosis and lung cancer or mesothelioma, "a malignant tumour of the membrane surrounding the lungs".
Dr Eames added: "Mr Plumb had pleural thickening but he did not have asbestos-related lung disease. He had emphysema, which is smoking-related.
"The asbestos itself wasn't doing him any harm. It was unfortunately the end result of a long history of smoking that caused his emphysema."
Recording a natural causes verdict, the coroner said: "It's very clear from the report that although there's no doubt that Raymond was exposed to asbestos, that would not have contributed to any of the conditions that caused his death."
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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