Document 0JvZDVR8J9Byr9XEEpGGmx0ab

Introduction Many of us had the good fortune to hear our next speaker give a general discussion of some of these problems we are discussing today at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Industrial Hygiene Foundation. Today, I think he will be adding new information on one particular portion of IHF's studies with which he has assisted. During his military service, this speaker saw the career advantages of industrial hygiene and occupa tional health; he had the good fortune to go to another excellent site of occupational health graduate training--Harold Magnuson's Institute in Ann Arbor--where he had a distinguished record. After his third (in plant) residency year at Ford Motor Company, Dr. Jon L. Konzen joined Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation as corporate Medical Director. He will now describe his company's Radiological Studies of Fibrous Glass Workers. RADIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF HEALTH OF FIBROUS GLASS WORKERS Jon L. Konzen, M.D.# The Owens-Corning Fiberglas Company began performing pre placement and periodic chest x-rays on its employees about the time that manufacture of fiber glass was begun on a plant scale. The newspapers were then full of "silicosis" and the company's management then began anticipating that a question would be raised concerning a relative hazard to health of exposure to fiberglas dust. While the x-rays taken were in tended chiefly for occupational health service use in hiring and placement operations, Dr. Charles Bishop, Plant Physician, recognized from the beginning that such records would have value for research purposes some day, and all such records were preserved, except for a few which were damaged in a flood. A comprehensive review has been made of these records with the assistance of Dr. George Wright of Cleveland, noted authority on occupational diseases of the chest. Dr. Wright published his findings (AMA Arch. Environ. Health, Jan. , 1968). In planning the epidemiological study on which /Dr. Utidjian has already given a preliminary report, the question was raised by Dr. Ciocco, Research Advisor to the Foundation, whether it would not be possible to develop data to supplement Dr. Wright's report. Dr. Wright's report dealt with 1500 employees of the total plant population of approximately 2400, on whom there were x-rays dating back to 1963 or earlier. Our present study is a random sample of approximately 10% of the plant pop ulation. For this sample we have x-rays on every individual, hence, Dr. Ciocco felt radiological examinations for a representative sample was important as this was not possible in Dr. Wright's study. ^Medical Director, Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation, Toledo,Ohio 33. 01 133