Supposedly they vector McQueens exposure to his dad who worked in a ship yard and had boiler insulation in his work clothes he brought home and shed in the laundry room every day.
I just found an interview with McQueen’s widow, in which she says “We believe Steve was first exposed to cancer in the late ‘40s while working at the Washington D.C. Naval Yard, removing asbestos-filled insulation from the hold of a ship.” It is also common knowledge that he used flame retardant masks and suits when racing cars which probably further exposed him.
Another asbestos casualty is Paul Gleason, who was in “Trading Places” and “The Breakfast Club”, who figured he got a good lung full of it while working construction jobs as a young man. Needless to say, all sad stories.