Asbestos death link

9:00am Monday 27th September 2004

AN ELDERLY widow's death could be linked to asbestos fibres on the clothes of her son who died four years ago, according to an inquest.

Joan Rose, 86, of Keightley Drive, New Eltham, died of the asbestos disease mesothelioma on June 6.

Her son, Alan who worked many years ago at Turner's Asbestos Company near his mother's home died of the same disease in 2000 after inhaling deadly fibres from the material.

And Mrs Rose may have also breathed in the fibres after handling her son's clothing, heard Croydon Coroner's Court.

Pathologist Adam Coumbe said Mrs Rose died from bronchial pneumonia as a result of having contracted mesothelioma.

Coroner Roy Palmer told the inquest she may have picked up the asbestos dust at the Ordnance Depot, in Didcot, Berkshire, where she worked for 20 years. But he added: "I wondered if she could have got it by washing out her son's clothing."

And there was also the possibility she caught the dust simply by living so close to the asbestos firm.

Dr Palmer recorded an open verdict.