Steve McQueen, famed American countercultural actor known for his anti-hero star turns in films like Bullitt, The Magnificent Seven, and The Great Escape, died nearly 30 years ago from complications due to mesothelioma.  According to an article posted on Mesothelioma.com, his family will release a book in honor of the legendary star known as “the king of cool.”  Appropriately, the book is titled Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool. It features hundreds of photos and around 200 passages which chronicle McQueen’s life and interests, which include vehicles like motorcycles and vintage cars.

According to the article, it also touches on his tragic death, which was caused by mesothelioma.  Mesothelioma is an exceedingly rare but exceedingly deadly form of cancer that affects somewhere between seven and 40 people per 1,000,000 in the United States.  It can attack the soft lining around the stomach and the lungs, advancing rapidly once it manifests itself.  Indeed, mesothelioma’s damage is wrought so rapidly that the life expectancy of a victim diagnosed with the cancer is often measured in mere months.

Steve McQueen was famous for doing many of his own stunts, often wearing protective helmets and fire-resistant clothing which may have contained asbestos.  He also helped remove asbestos from pipes while he was in the Marines.  These incidents are significant because asbestos exposure is strongly associated with mesothelioma, and it’s conceivable that either of these events led to him contracting the disease.

When asbestos fibers are disturbed and become airborne, they can be inhaled.  Once inhaled, the fibers embed themselves in the lungs and remain dormant for a very long period of time which can range from 10 to 50 years.  This large window, combined with the extended latency period, means it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where McQueen contracted his mesothelioma.  However, either incident might have contributed to his tragic end.

If we look to the history of asbestos as a commercially utilized mineral, there were many uses of asbestos.  That’s because this mineral, at one time very widely mined throughout the world (and still mined to a large degree today), had many properties that made it incredibly useful to many industries, especially the shipbuilding and construction industries.  Back at asbestos’s peak, in the middle of the 20th century, it was widely used despite concerns that it had ramifications for the health of workers exposed to it, concerns that had existed in one form or another since Greeks first mined and used the material over two millenia ago.

As previously mentioned, asbestos found its utilization highest in the construction and shipbuilding industries.  Within the field of construction, asbestos was used as an insulator.  Since it was such a fibrous mineral, asbestos can have significant amounts of air within it, which makes it a great insulator.  It was also used as a flame retardant for similar reasons.

Primarily, however, asbestos was utilized as an additive to cement.  Adding asbestos to cement had several advantages.  Of significant importance was that it increased the strength of cement by up to tenfold.  Because of this, less cement needed to be used for construction projects, which allowed for a) greater efficiency on the construction site and b) lowered transportation costs for the cement.  It worked wonderfully for those reasons.

In shipyards, asbestos had somewhat similar applications.  It was used as insulation for piping.  In this capacity, asbestos was ideal because it was cheap, lightweight, and excellent at the task needed.  Its use was not limited to pipes, as engines and boilers were often encased in asbestos as well.

Despite its apparent excellence as a construction supply, however, asbestos ultimately declined due to its incredibly negative side effect, namely, as the primary cause of mesothelioma.

If you or someone you love worked with asbestos in their line of work and has contracted mesothelioma, it might be a good idea to consider contacting a mesothelioma lawyer with a proven track record of success.  A mesothelioma settlement won’t cure the disease, but it may help making the quality of life of a victim suffering from the disease a bit better.

Here’s an intriguing bit of news on the mesothelioma law front: three former executives of the massive, Trieste, Italy-based shipbuilding company Fincantieri have been convicted of “negligent homicide” in light of the fact that 37 employees died due to asbestos exposure.

According to an article posted on the Canadian news source site The Province, the three executives were jailed and given sentences ranging from three to 7 1/2 years.  A sum that was either undisclosed or not specifically reported by The Province, but was nevertheless noted to be in the millions of dollars, was also part of the damages secured.

The decision against the Fincantieri executives stems from the apparent fact that the shipbuilding company continued to use asbestos in the construction of its ships until 1999.  For a little perspective, Italy outlawed the use of asbestos as a construction material back in 1996.  The three years of oversight was enough for the court to find the former executives guilty.

Asbestos, a fibrous material used for its valuable insulation properties, was an integral element in the shipbuilding industry for many years.  Some of the many uses of asbestos in the field were the insulation of pipes, gaskets, boilers, and engines.  Unfortunately, asbestos also causes devastating lung diseases, among them mesothelioma, an insidious cancer that has no known cure.

It sounds like the plaintiffs in this case got what appears to be a pretty aggressive and savvy law firm working for them.  That’s good to hear.  Though a successful mesothelioma settlement can’t undo the ravages that this disease causes on a victim’s lungs, it can help mitigate the medical expenses left behind for the bereaved to deal with.  That can be useful, considering the massive and rapidly accruing expenses often associated with experimental treatments and quickly advancing diseases.

And, like the conviction of the former executives of Fincantieri might indicate, these settlements are also capable of achieving another purpose: justice.