Clothing 'cause of woman's asbestos exposure'

An Exeter inquest has ruled that a pensioner "probably" died after coming into contact with asbestos on her husband's clothes more than two decades ago, it has been reported.

Exeter coroner Darren Salter ruled that Withyocmbe pensioner Elaine Smith-Boon, 70, was killed by an industrial disease, although she did not come into contact with asbestos in her working life, according to devon24.co.uk.

Ms Smith-Boon worked at an accountancy firm before she married, but her husband inspected sub-stations for an electricity board and would have been exposed to the material, without wearing protective equipment when he first started his job.

The news provider reported that Mr Salter concluded: "There had been no other obvious exposure. That is the only evidence. On balance, her death was most probably caused by domestic contact with contaminated clothes."

Recently, the North-West Evening Mail revealed that children in Walney were seen playing with sheeting made of asbestos, which had been used by a group of men as crab nets.

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