Mesothelioma in the Marines

Marine Corps veterans and other military veterans are susceptible to contracting the life threatening disease mesothelioma.  Asbestos exposure has been proven to be a cause for this disease, and ships, vehicles, barracks and other military structures have been found to contain asbestos.  Even though mesothelioma is more prevalent among veterans of the Navy, since asbestos is commonly found in military watercraft, many Marine Corps veterans have faced the same risk of contracting the disease because Marine missions by nature often include the use of amphibious vehicles for transportation.  The use of asbestos for construction on military bases included barracks used by the Army and the Marine Corps as well.  Because of its natural insulating ability, asbestos was used as insulation in ceiling and floor tiles, as well as insulation for boilers.  The cancer-causing material was used for fireproofing because of its outstanding property of being resistant to heat.

Asbestos was the inexpensive choice for construction of Marine barracks and military watercraft from the World War II era through the Vietnam era and on into the late 1970’s.  A government study found in 2002, that three of ten military barracks inspected had asbestos in their insulation and floor tiles.  Eight of those inspected barracks were built more than thirty years ago.  Not until the 1980’s was the use of asbestos in building ships, barracks, etc., halted.  Today’s Marines continue to face exposure because many of these structures are still used by the military today.

Not until twenty or more years after exposure to asbestos do the signs of mesothelioma begin to show themselves.  Because of the associated accumulation of fluid in the pleural cavity, symptoms of mesothelioma often include persistent coughs, shortness of breath, and pain in the chest.  There may also be wheezing, hoarseness, and blood in sputum.  Severe cases of mesothelioma may involve tumors in lung tissue which may metastasize to other organs in the body or to the bones.  Collapsing of the lung may also occur.

In addition to pleural mesothelioma, patients sometimes develop peritoneal mesothelioma in the abdominal cavity. Peritoneal mesothelioma may result in patient weight loss as well as swelling in the abdomen due to buildup of fluid in the abdominal cavity. The bowels may become obstructed, and there may be fever and anemia present. Additional symptoms may accrue if the cancer has metastasized, including swelling of the face or neck and difficulties swallowing.

Pericardial mesothelioma affects the heart’s lining causing a build-up of fluid between the tissues of the heart and the lining of the heart. Symptoms of this type of mesothelioma include chest pain (mild to severe), irregularities in the pattern of breathing, coughing, irregular heartbeat, and fatigue that does not diminish.

When the cancer metastasizes to other organs/parts of the body, the following symptoms may occur:

• Neck or facial inflammation
• Difficulty in swallowing
• General body pain

Successful treatments leading to the cure of mesothelioma are exceedingly rare; however the modes of treatment include but are not limited to the following:

• Surgery
• Chemotherapy
• Heated intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy
• Immunotherapy
• Radiation
• Multimodality Therapies

Once a tumor appears in the lung cavity, surgery may be performed, but surgery alone has not been very effective unless it is combined with other treatment procedures such as chemotherapy, and radiation. Using all three has proven to lengthen the lives of patients suffering from mesothelioma from months to as many as fourteen years. Twenty-nine percent of patients survive two years.

Over twenty-seven million US citizens were exposed to cancer-causing asbestos in the workplace. Many of these were military men and women of whom most were in the Navy, but other service men and women in all branches of the military, including the Marines, were exposed as well.

Cases of pleural mesothelioma increased between 1973 and 1984 at an alarming rate in the Caucasian male population. The increase was 300 percent in this group.

In the US, in a period of less than twenty years from 1980 to the late 1990’s, the death rate of patients suffering from mesothelioma went up from 2,000 each year to 3,000.

Statistically, men were more likely to contract the disease and die than women.

Actor Steve McQueen died from peritoneal mesothelioma. As a young man he was likely exposed to asbestos while completing a military tour of duty in the Marines. Hamilton Jordan, who was US Chief of Staff under the administration of President Jimmy Carter, died in 2008 from the disease. Ironically Mr. Jordan was an activist on behalf of cancer research and treatment his entire life.

Marines stationed at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina from 1957 through 1987, were exposed to asbestos.  The cancer-causing material coated the pipes, and so as a direct result it leaked into the water.

Tests done at Camps Grainger, Tarrawa Terrace, and LeJeune, found asbestos present.  Wells supplied with the contaminated water were finally closed in 1984 when the Marine Corps released the first press statement about the contamination.  Those Marines stationed at Camp LeJeune were exposed to between seventy and two hundred micrograms of PCE per liter of water in addition to the asbestos exposure.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that the highest acceptable level of exposure should be no more than five micrograms per liter. 

Marines not only drank the water; they cooked with it, bathed in it, and used it to clean their dwellings.

Asbestos removal was performed at Camp Pendleton in California as well as other military bases across the country.  Camp Pendleton was the training ground for several generations of Marines who used facilities that were constructed during the time period from the late 1930’s through the late 1970’s when asbestos use was prevalent.  This base along with Marine Corp air stations were places where Marines were exposed to asbestos.

The use of asbestos in construction in and around Marine and other military barracks ended in the early 1980’s; but facilities, pipes, boilers, etc., that were constructed during the period from the late 30’s through the late 70’s are still in use today.  Therefore, the threat of exposure to the cancer-causing material has not ended. 

Plus the onset of the disease mesothelioma my not occur until twenty or more years after exposure to asbestos.  Approximately 30% of those who have developed mesothelioma contracted the disease while serving in the Military.