Steamfitters

The title "steamfitter" (what is today known as a pipe fitter) comes from a time when power and heat were primarily derived from steam. A steamfitter was a person who could install, inspect, maintain and repair systems that carried steam for heating and power generation. Systems such as this would have been installed on seafaring vessels, locomotives, in power plants and in physical plants of various kinds. Equipment often maintained by a steamfitter might include, but would not be limited to, boilers, radiators, oil burners, pumps, traps and valves.

Common Modes of Exposure

Because of the common implementation of asbestos insulation in high-temperature applications, a steamfitter would be in particular danger of asbestos exposure. Coming into contact with high-temperature pipes and equipment would bring the steamfitter into direct contact with asbestos blankets and pipe wrapping, asbestos blocks and a variety of other asbestos products.

Part of the normal duties of a steamfitter would be to dismantle, repair and reassemble pipe infrastructure. This means that asbestos exposure would be exacerbated by the necessity of breaking apart insulating materials and re-applying them when the job was complete.

In marine vessels, asbestos would not only have been used in local areas to insulate pipes, but also more generally to prevent the spread of fire from one deck to the next. The engine room, where a steamfitter would spend most of his time, would be covered in a variety of asbestos insulations.

Types of Asbestos

The asbestos-containing products most common in this type of work would include W. R. Grace's Monokote, a sprayable insulation with up to 12 percent asbestos content, and asbestos cement paneling - a rigid sheet of asbestos-reinforced cement for insulation and fire prevention.

These, in conjunction with other application-specific asbestos products, would have made asbestos exposure on the part of a steamfitter an absolute certainty.

On-the-job Dangers

While some occupations, such as firefighter, police officer, or stuntman, are associated with clear and well-known hazards, people generally understand that many jobs present a chance for some work-related injuries. Even so, most people in America today expect worker safety to be an important concern of companies, enforced by government agencies. When it came to asbestos exposure, however, these expectations were not always met, and even in recent history employees were subjected to conditions that placed their lives at risk.

Asbestos Varieties and How They Affect Health

Asbestos is broken into two categories. Chrysotile, often called "white" asbestos, is the only member of the serpentine category and was the form most commonly utilized. This is a relatively pliable variety that is usually not associated with mesothelioma or asbestos cancer. However, when breathed in, serpentine asbestos can cause abrasions on the interior surfaces of the lungs. This then results in an accumulation of scar tissue, which is a major factor in the development of asbestosis.

Amphibole asbestos is the second category and is considered more deadly. A relatively uncommon, but often lethal, disease linked to asbestos called mesothelioma is linked to inhaling asbestos, particularly the amphibole forms. The pleural form of the illness, one that affects the tissue that lies between the lungs and the chest cavity, is the most common. Pericardial and peritoneal mesotheliomas, diseases that damage tissue surrounding the heart and digestive tract, respectively, are more unusual but also associated with extensive contact with amphibole asbestos.

The Advantages of Asbestos

Ironically, asbestos was used when erecting building and in numerous products due to its ability to save lives. Serpentine asbestos is one of the best insulators known when it comes to flames and heat and has been used for the purpose for centuries. Amphibole forms of asbestos had additional traits that made them useful in industrial situations. For instance, amosite is high in iron content, making it impervious to chemical corrosion. "Blue" asbestos, or crocidolite, was generally utilized near electrical equipment because of its resistance to electrical current. Depending on the application, various types of fibers were combined to form ACMs (asbestos-containing materials) that protected lives and property against fire, heat, electrocution and caustic chemicals.

As long as it was solid, asbestos posed no immediate risk. A drawback of ACMs, however, is that as they get older they become friable, or able to be reduced to powder by hand pressure alone. Asbestos particles, when friable, are readily released in the environment; inhaling asbestos fibers can cause diseases such as cancer and asbestosis. Unless effective safety measures, like using on-site uniforms and showers, were in place, it was all too easy for personnel to bring home particles of asbestos on their skin, in their hair, or on their clothes, exposing even more people to danger.

The Ticking Bomb

In contrast to typical workplace injuries, which are readily observed and known about soon after the incident, asbestos-related diseases can take many, many years to develop. Given such a lengthy time between asbestos exposure and the appearance of the resulting disease, the worker might not even associate the current condition with work done 10 or more years earlier. New therapies including mesothelioma radiation are being developed, and early detection provides the patient the best chance of beating all typically low mesothelioma survival rate. So, it is extremely important for folks that worked as steamfitter or pipe fitters, and those who lived with them, to notify their physicians about the chance of asbestos exposure.

Sources

Alberta.ca - Steamfitter-Pipefitter
http://www.tradesecrets.gov.ab.ca/index.html?page=trades/007/0074_profile

Bowker, Michael. Fatal Deception: The Untold Story of Asbestos (New York: Touchstone, 2003)

University of Wisconsin - Asbestos Containing Material (ACM) - Laboratories and Shops
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/EHSRM/ASB/acmimages3.html

University of Wisconsin - Asbestos Disposal
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/EHSRM/HAZEXCEPTIONS/a.html