Karuna Vikram

Confidential Communications: Industry Science Tries to Bury "Silent Spring"

The document [https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/mBkxdNywrymQ61meM6qZNGjvk?lightbox=1] we are highlighting today is a letter from the Industrial Hygiene Foundation of America to Dr. Robert Kehoe at the University of Cincinnati. The letter is from Jan 29, 1964, and penned by Robert T.P. deTreville. Both figures, Dr.

Lead was at the Heart of the Ideal Home

In order to advertise their products, Lead Industries Association published a magazine showcasing the properties of lead and its uses in the home. Today, we examine their issue from March, 1939 [https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/J9o4qaNme7GGd02kdK8BRRoa?lightbox=1]. This issue emphasized the importance of lead in almost every sphere

Lead Industry Points Finger at Race and Class

In a candid letter [https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/RjGJVV1qov3Qb9qmXv54YOmzn?lightbox=1] to the Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Manfred Bowditch, the director of health and safety at Lead Industries Association recorded his annoyance with recent articles published about lead poisoning in children. The letter is from

What Corporations Know and What They Claim to Know: Eternit and Asbestos Cement Pipes

Stephan Schmidheiny, the owner of fiber cement company Eternit, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2019 for his role in exposing workers to asbestos fibers in Eternit factories. In 2021, he will be up for trial again in Italy--this time for voluntary manslaughter for the deaths of over 300

Pandemics and Lead Poisoning: The Morbidity Weekly Report in 1957

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the news cycle is filled with journalism on the crisis--the spread of the virus, a potential vaccine, the deaths. In 1957, the newspapers were reporting on the H2N2 influenza pandemic, a virus which ended up killing more than 1 million people

The EPA's Asbestos Pamphlet: There is Asbestos In My Classroom?

In 1979, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a question and answer booklet [https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/85D7kgaMkKY1QG1NGG7J9npGZ?lightbox=1] to help schools investigate, find, and remove the asbestos that could possibly be lurking in their buildings. However, these guidelines were still merely suggestions, not enforced laws. Today, the

The History of America is the History of Lead

The history of America is the history of lead. That is what the National Lead Company claimed in the 38 page booklet they compiled outlining the history of their company and products. This booklet [https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/kxyk8LgXJ747YD5Ej6QBgzdb?lightbox=1] was dedicated to their employees. In it, the

Innocent, Unaware Monsanto: Avoiding Responsibility

The document [https://cdn.toxicdocs.org/Z8/Z8JoXGD4m83pOjEJ1xJ0oL657/Z8JoXGD4m83pOjEJ1xJ0oL657.pdf] we are highlighting today could seem to be particularly puzzling. It is a letter from February 3, 1976, where a Monsanto employee heartfeltly thanks Mrs. Polsen for her "touching letter." Mrs. Polsen mentions the death of her son,

Silenced Epidemic: Lead Poisoning in Children

The document [https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/2Y7xzM3XROQg1bpMvznnzomL?lightbox=1] we are highlighting today is a memo from the Scientists' Committee for Public Information, Inc (SCPI). It is titled "Lead Poisoning in Slum Children" and dated 14th February, 1969. The memo is a cry for public awareness

PCBs Found in Natural Gas Pipeline

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are organic chemicals that were mainly used in the manufacture of hydraulic fluids and as cooling agents in electrical transformers and capacitators. Exposure to PCBs, mainly through contact or ingestion, has been linked to skin and liver damage, and cancer. In January 1981, PCBs were found in

They Said DDT "Improved Health in Man"

DDT was developed in the 1940s as a potent synthetic insecticide and was initially used both to control insects in crops and agricultural settings, as well as to combat diseases like malaria. However, by the late 1950s DDT's toxic effects on the ecology were brought to light and

Leaded Gasoline: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Leaded gasoline was one of the last lead containing products to be banned by the government. The EPA fought to enforce regulations on leaded gasoline well into the 1970s, but by then, it had taken a severe toll, poisoning workers at oil refineries and gas station employees. The Smithsonian Magazine

Polyvinyl Chloride Pushback, Schoolchildren Forgotten

Vinyl chloride is a colorless gas used to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a plastic polymer. Exposure to vinyl chloride gas affects the central nervous system, causing dizziness and headaches. Over long periods of exposure, humans are at risk of cancer of the liver and birth defects. In 1978, Keyser-Century

Herbicide and Miscarriages

Today's post examines two newspaper articles [https://cdn.toxicdocs.org/wD/wDJBXbqppLzv8NXyj8mnYe8m3/wDJBXbqppLzv8NXyj8mnYe8m3.pdf] from February, 1980. The articles describe the plight of a handful of women from Missoula, Montana, who suffered several miscarriages. They filed a lawsuit against Chemical Co. and other corpoarations for manufacturing herbicides "

Childhood Cancer: Dangers of Factory Life Brought Home

The document we are looking at today is a newspaper article [https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/7OMgODbkZrnZaLGa263dz8Xwa?lightbox=1] from 1981. It highlights a study that suggests children with parents who worked with chemicals had a higher chance of getting brain tumors. The study examined a group of 92 children

Schemes, Sponsored Science, and More

In Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway's book, Merchants of Doubt, industries like tobacco and DDT kept contreversies around scientific consensuses alive in order to impede restrictions and other action. This office report from the Lead Industries [https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/O32LmbYpK9BGEJwL9XEQL8Vre?lightbox=1] in April 4th,

Hair Dryer Asbestos Fryer

Through the 1970s, asbestos fibers could be found all around a typical household. Asbestos was used to line products like hair dryers, dishwashers, toasters, and a range of other appliances to provide cheap insulation. The asbestos in hair dryers was especially dangerous. It was a soft, friable material that could

Dr. "Dutch Boy" Prescribes Lead Paint

We have posted about the "Dutch Boy" as a powerful symbol [https://www.toxicdocs.org/blog/advertisements-in-the-l/] reprsenting the National Lead Company. In the 1950s, Dutch Boy became the face of an aggressive advertising campaign selling white lead paint. The document [https://www.toxicdocs.org/

Lawrence Nelson: Continued

In 1936, Lawrence Nelson filed a case against The International Smelting and Refining Company. The document [https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/r62o78zGMzymknOXVKqO1drne?lightbox=1] charges the corporation with knowingly exposing its workforce to toxic compounds without properly informing them of the consequences. As our previous post recounted, Nelson was hospitalized

Lawrence Nelson: A Lead Story

Lawrence Nelson was a workman at the International Smelting and Refining Company handling white lead. He was employed from June 2nd, 1927, to May 3rd, 1935. In 1936, due to his prolonged exposure to lead and other toxic hazards in his work environment, he suffered a paralytic stroke and was

"The Lead Industry is a War Industry"

A meeting between four lead corporations was held on May 11, 1942. Representatives from St. Joseph Lead Co., American Smelting and Refining Co., National Lead Co., and United Smelting Refining and Mining Co discussed tariff regulations with Mexico and Bolivia in relation to ongoing World War II in Europe. Essentially,

Asbestos Advertisements

The document we are looking at today is a collection of asbestos advertisements [https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/kDD04koZYJXRBk03Xj2rqka4O?lightbox=1] from 1946 by the Ruberoid Company. The primary product for sale was the "handy home use roll" of asbestos paper. The image describes many uses for asbestos

Recalling Rome Through Lead Pipes

Lead pipes have been used to carry water from the time of Rome. By the 1920s, [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2509614/] cities in the United States began to recognize that these pipes played a role in causing lead poisoning, and many began to ban their use.

Squeaky Clean: Monsanto's Publicity for Roundup Weedkiller

In May 2019, a 2 billion dollar verdict was delivered against Monsanto that concluded that the popular weedkiller, Roundup, caused cancer. This was the third case [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/13/business/monsanto-roundup-cancer-verdict.html] in the past two years that found that the company had

Asbestos Lawsuits

The document [https://www.toxicdocs.org/d/mqxpKRa8q6N9o5N9LXdLL98Gk?lightbox=1] that we are highlighting today is a compilation of lawsuits filed against many large industrial corporations, mostly from the 1990s. The lawsuits were filed by employees of these companies, claiming damages for: > "negligence, breach of warranty, misrepresentation, ultra