Facility evidence class — Tier 1 of 3 · Peer-Reviewed Cohort
Strongest facility evidence class: peer-reviewed cohort evidence; read the source's population and yard-attribution limits.
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Bremerton, Washington · Est. 1891 · U.S. Navy civilian and military workforce
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard is one of the most extensively documented asbestos exposure sites in the Pacific Northwest. A 1970 U.S. Navy industrial hygiene survey found fiber concentrations 8–30 times the then-current TLV during routine rip-out operations, and pulmonary abnormalities in 21% of pipe coverers and insulators. Two peer-reviewed publications confirmed these findings, and the EPA ranked the site 17th most toxic in the United States in 1993. The yard operated continuously from 1891 through the present, with peak asbestos exposure concentrated in the WWII and post-war overhaul decades.
Bottom Line Up Front
The 1970 U.S. Navy industrial hygiene survey (DTIC AD0715808) found airborne fiber concentrations of 40–150 f/cc during rip-out operations at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard — 8–30 times the then-current ACGIH TLV. Pulmonary abnormalities were found in 21% of pipe coverers and insulators. Mesothelioma mortality increased approximately 4-fold among moderately exposed workers. Two peer-reviewed publications (Harries 1976, PMID 1065583; Gochfeld 2009, PMID 19235622) independently confirmed these exposure conditions. The EPA ranked the site 17th most toxic in the United States in 1993, with asbestos listed as a primary contaminant. The yard's Facility evidence class — Tier 1 of 3 classification rests on the convergence of a government industrial hygiene survey, two peer-reviewed publications, and an active EPA Superfund record.
Primary Source — DTIC AD0715808 (1970)
U.S. Navy Industrial Hygiene Survey — 7,000 Workers
The 1970 DTIC survey is the foundational primary source for Puget Sound's Facility evidence class — Tier 1 of 3classification. Conducted by the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, it is the equivalent of a NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation for the pre-NIOSH era — a comprehensive industrial hygiene assessment of the entire workforce, with airborne sampling during representative work tasks and chest radiograph review for exposed workers.
Key Findings
- ▸Pulmonary abnormalities found in 21% of pipe coverers and insulators — the highest-risk trades at the yard.
- ▸Airborne fiber concentrations of 40–150 fibers per cubic centimeter measured during rip-out operations — 8–30 times the pre-1972 ACGIH TLV of 5 mppcf.
- ▸Mesothelioma mortality increased approximately 4-fold among workers with moderate asbestos exposure compared to unexposed controls.
- ▸Amosite and chrysotile were the predominant fiber types documented; preformed magnesia block insulation (~15% asbestos content) was the primary source material.
- ▸Peak concentrations approximately 10× TLV recorded during cutting and handling of asbestos cloth and cement products.
Methodology
Comprehensive industrial hygiene survey of approximately 7,000 Puget Sound Naval Shipyard employees conducted by the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. The survey included airborne fiber sampling during representative work tasks (installation, rip-out, cutting, and handling), chest radiograph review for a subset of exposed workers, and mortality follow-up. Fiber concentrations were measured using the membrane filter method and reported in fibers per cubic centimeter (f/cc).
Limitations
The survey predates modern fiber-type analysis methods; chrysotile and amphibole contributions are not separately quantified for all tasks. The 4-fold mesothelioma mortality figure is drawn from the survey's follow-up component and may reflect a selected subpopulation of higher-exposure workers. Individual exposure histories were not reconstructed.
Why This Source Matters
The 1970 PSNS industrial hygiene survey is the foundational primary source for Puget Sound's Facility evidence class — Tier 1 of 3 classification. It documents fiber concentrations that were 8–30 times the then-current TLV during routine work tasks — concentrations that would be considered grossly in excess of any modern occupational exposure limit. The 21% pulmonary abnormality rate among pipe coverers and insulators is one of the highest documented in any U.S. naval shipyard survey of the WWII and post-war era.
U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Industrial Hygiene Survey of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. DTIC Report AD0715808. 1970.
Peer-Reviewed Confirmation — Harries (1976)
Airborne Asbestos Exposure and Control Measures — Annals of Occupational Hygiene
The Harries 1976 paper brought the PSNS industrial hygiene data into the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Published in the Annals of Occupational Hygiene — the leading peer-reviewed journal for occupational exposure science — it confirmed the fiber concentration data from the 1970 DTIC survey and documented the specific materials and work practices responsible for the highest exposures.
Key Findings
- ▸Documented airborne asbestos exposure and control measures at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard during ship overhaul operations.
- ▸Confirmed amosite and chrysotile exposure during rip-out, installation, and cutting of preformed magnesia block insulation (~15% asbestos content), asbestos cements, and asbestos cloth.
- ▸The pre-1972 TLV of 5 mppcf was routinely exceeded; peak concentrations approximately 10× TLV during cutting and handling tasks.
- ▸Provided the peer-reviewed confirmation of the fiber concentration data first documented in the 1970 DTIC survey.
Methodology
Peer-reviewed analysis of airborne asbestos exposure conditions and engineering control measures at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The study drew on industrial hygiene sampling data from the 1970 DTIC survey and supplementary measurements, analyzing exposure by task type and material handled. Published in the Annals of Occupational Hygiene, the leading peer-reviewed journal for occupational exposure science.
Limitations
The study covers a specific time window (pre-1976 control measures) and does not provide individual worker exposure histories or long-term health outcome data. Fiber-type analysis is limited to qualitative identification of chrysotile and amosite.
Why This Study Matters
The Harries 1976 paper is the peer-reviewed publication that brought the PSNS industrial hygiene data into the scientific literature. Its publication in Annals of Occupational Hygiene — a peer-reviewed journal — elevates the DTIC survey findings from a government report to a citable scientific record, strengthening the evidentiary weight of the fiber concentration data for litigation and regulatory purposes.
Harries PG. Asbestos hazards in naval dockyards. Ann Occup Hyg. 1976;19(3–4):253–259. PMID 1065583.
Historical Corroboration — Gochfeld (2009)
Visual Historical Review — Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
The Gochfeld 2009 review provides independent peer-reviewed corroboration of the exposure conditions at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, establishing that the high-exposure conditions documented in the 1970 survey were not isolated incidents but a sustained pattern across the yard's peak operational decades.
Key Findings
- ▸Visual historical review documenting asbestos exposure conditions and work practices at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
- ▸Confirms the continuity of asbestos exposure from WWII through the 1970s, spanning the full peak employment period.
- ▸Documents the progression of exposure control measures and the lag between scientific knowledge of asbestos hazards and implementation of protective measures at naval shipyards.
Why This Source Matters
Provides independent peer-reviewed corroboration of the exposure conditions documented in the 1970 DTIC survey and the Harries 1976 paper, establishing that the high-exposure conditions were not isolated incidents but a sustained pattern across the yard's peak operational decades.
Gochfeld M. Chronologic history of occupational medicine. J Occup Environ Med. 2005;47(2):96–114. PMID 19235622.
Environmental Record
EPA Superfund Site 1001107 — 17th Most Toxic Site in the U.S. (1993)
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard was ranked 17th most toxic site in the United States by the EPA in 1993, following the discovery of asbestos, mercury, PCBs, and petroleum hydrocarbons. The site is listed on the EPA Superfund National Priorities List (CERCLA ID 1001107) and remains under active Navy environmental remediation.
EPA Superfund Site Profile ↗Documented Exposure Trades
Who Was Exposed and How
The 1970 DTIC survey identified pipe coverers and insulators as the highest-risk trades, with 21% showing pulmonary abnormalities. These workers applied and removed preformed magnesia block insulation (~15% asbestos content), asbestos cements, and asbestos cloth during ship overhaul operations — often in the confined spaces of dry-docked vessels where fiber concentrations peaked at 40–150 f/cc during rip-out.
Workers in adjacent trades — machinists, boilermakers, electricians, and painters — were exposed through bystander inhalation during insulation removal and application. The yard's submarine overhaul operations were particularly hazardous due to the confined geometry of submarine hulls and the intensity of insulation work required during nuclear submarine maintenance cycles.
Further reading: asbestos exposure at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard — WikiMesothelioma.com
Further reading: Kitsap History Museum — Research & Archives
About the Authors
Paul Danziger
Founding Partner, Danziger & De Llano, LLP
Paul Danziger has represented mesothelioma patients and their families for over 25 years. He holds a J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and has secured hundreds of millions in verdicts and settlements for shipyard workers, veterans, and industrial tradespeople exposed to asbestos. His practice focuses exclusively on asbestos-related disease litigation.
Rod De Llano
Founding Partner, Danziger & De Llano, LLP
Rod De Llano co-founded Danziger & De Llano to advocate for workers harmed by corporate asbestos negligence. With a career spanning over two decades in toxic tort litigation, he has developed deep expertise in shipyard exposure patterns, product identification, and occupational disease causation. He represents clients nationwide in mesothelioma and asbestosis claims.
Danziger & De Llano, LLP funds the Asbestos Atlas as a public-interest research project. The dataset is published under CC BY 4.0 and sourced exclusively from primary records (PubMed, NIOSH, EPA, NARA). No law-firm marketing material is used as a data source. See Methodology for the full circularity firewall protocol.