Washing her husband's dusty work clothes once a week for more than thirty years could have caused the asbestos-related lung cancer which caused the death of Coleford pensioner Susan Duggan, an inquest heard last Thursday (November 11).

Mrs Duggan of Tufthorn Avenue, Coleford, also believed she had been exposed to asbestos during the one year she worked in a cable factory in the sixties before she started a family, the Gloucester inquest was told.

Assistant Gloucestershire Coroner Roland Wooderson said she had taken legal action after her diagnosis with the terminal cancer mesothelioma and had been awarded a payout of £16,798.

He recorded a conclusion that Mrs Duggan's death at Dilke Hospital on 28th October 2021 was due to industrial disease.

The coroner said she had received her diagnosis in January last year and was admitted to the Dilke on 30th Sept this year because of increasing pain and difficulty managing her symptoms.

Her son, Andrew, stated that his mother was believed to have contracted mesothelioma from washing his late father's work clothes after he had been in an asbestos dust environment at a cardboard factory.

In a statement Mrs Duggan made in July this year for her legal claim said she herself was working in a dusty factory from Oct 1965 to Oct 1966 before becoming pregnant and leaving the job.

"I was also exposed to asbestos from my husband's work clothing when he worked for Reeds Corrugated from 1965 to 1997.

"Ken always wore a shirt, jumper and jeans to work and I washed them every Friday night from when we were married in 1966 until he was made redundant in 1997.

"There was always dust on them. I used to shake them out before washing them.

"I saw dust as I shook them in our very small kitchen. He would come home and sit on the sofa and chairs transporting dust around the home. We didn't realise then how dangerous this dust was.

"I did all the dusting and housework. He would take off his dusty work clothes in our small bedroom and shake and fold them ready for the next day.

"Therefore, a lot of asbestos dust would have ended up in our home, putting ourselves and our family at risk.

"We did not realise it was dangerous and did not ever receive any warnings or protective clothing."

Conclusion: Industrial disease.