Andy Dingley wrote:

On Mar 2, 3:53 pm, Steve Firth wrote:

Asbestosis was common amongst the
relatives of those who worked in the asbestosis industry.

It was common amongst the _wives_ of those who worked in the industry,

No, it affected other family members as well. It was wives who were
likely to be affected but it wasn't uncommon for others in the family to
suffer.

or at least whoever it was who did the laundry. Comparatively few
other people living under the same roof were affected, it was the
close handling of contaminated clothing (and remember, this is the
manual or twin-tub laundry era) that did it.

Fibres shed from clothes were enough. Although I can remember that
asbestos workers used to bring samples home and purloin scraps to make
items from within the family so there were other ways of spreading
asbestos fibres around.