Joan Hayburn, 68, died on July 1^st at Overgate Hospice in Elland, England.  The cause of death was a malignant tumor in her left lung, which a coroner determined was the result of prolonged asbestos exposure.  Asbestos is a highly toxic mineral fiber that can be found in a wide variety of construction materials manufactured prior to the 1980’s.  Asbestos has since been banned in most developed countries for causing such fatal cancers as lung cancer and mesothelioma, which affects the protective lining of the lungs, heart, chest and abdomen.

Hayburn initially reported to her doctor complaining of a cough in October 2009.  She was prescribed cough medicine, and when that failed to help, she was sent for a chest X-ray.  Asbestos cancer takes an average of 40 years to develop and can be very difficult to detect because it usually doesn’t become symptomatic until it reaches stage three or four.  Even then the symptoms can be indicative of several, less severe respiratory illnesses.  Aside from the coughing, Hayburn also suffered from shortness of breath.

Prior to her death, Hayburn believed she had never come into contact with asbestos.  However, her husband had worked with it.  Although he had taken proper safety precautions while on the job, it was Hayburn who laundered his contaminated work clothes.  It is likely that Hayburn inhaled the microscopic asbestos fibers that clung to her husband’s overalls, which then implanted themselves in her lungs, causing unnoticed damage over decades.  The coroner reported that Hayburn had four times the normal amount of asbestos in her body at the time of her death.

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