Document 0LBoxr7BGxwp2Njzdv7Q8QZLb

FILE NAME: RT Vanderbilt (RTV) DATE: 0000 DOC#: RTV264 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Inspection Report - J-M Talc-Chrysotile Controversy * , i . joiff-MAfi'vijjUi - EMc-GHHrsoTjr.fi comwvfcRsr * * J V Summary < C - LA S ix (6) samples o f various Vanderbilt t a lc px-oducb wore analyzed fo r C h ry so tile content by MeCrone A ssociates and by it M. Venfcionsj In c, No c b ry s o tllc was da boo ted by c ith e r laboratory, I'he s ix (6) aample were 0 applied by the Johns-M onvllle Company ao portions o f the samples they had found to contain up to 35$ chryn o tilo fib e r , as reported to Vanderbilt personnel and to o f f i c i a l s o f the Occupational Safety and Health Adm inistration in Washington, Aria Lytie a l DaLa In March o f, J 975 a-eprooeutativea o f Jbtusa-Msmvlll.0 Corporation,, Oauvoty CoJ.orado (B, n, hartur) c a lle d refines tin g a roeeting between themselves and IL T, Vanderbilt person! regarding the la b e lin g o f trtmollfcxc t a lc . The maotin g was eventually arranged fo r A p ril 16, 1975 a t KTV Corporate Headquarter'? In Morvallc, Connecticut. Tho meet/l up; whs attended by JR. 8. Drater, TU P, Carter (representing J , M .), if. B, Vanderbi 11,, T, 7, Jl)iaud# A. M, Harvey, C, S. Thompson, artel 1? B. Gibnoy, J r . lattar wid Carter explained that they had c a lle d th is meeting to present th e ir sto ry that our is le s (ii'flAUq e t c ,) contained ch ry eo tile ami other Hums o f aabeston. They oiTermT Leohnie.s data, copirfi o f which were l e f t with us, mid offered to send us samples o f the title they xbmi led . During Un* discuaaion Tamar staled that ojin o f the V anderbilt product:; ermtaUtnl 5V;' ctiryauU lu. The data they presented Included " t'Jher" counts performed rm four (i) so-eo.! I<<J Vanderbilt pixxiuetfi in d ic a tin g that cliry so tiiu constituted up to one~1,h.u'J o f the, " f j b u n .' connbv<l. (sec attached. Johiw-Manvli le document) l'lbora were tlufintsd l>y the Inadequate and obsolete c r ite r ia o f 3 si aspect; r a tio , Their reasonc. f'ot* the v i s i t were given as; purely in fo rcu itiva, as friend;,q in ayrr w \n re i.u aims? o f tho mineral content o f our t a le . They udm11ted they had gone to OcilA islTAecs j,n Washing ton with the smuts .sto ry , complain trig th at they were lo s in g buajii<;i::i l.o VajuiorbiJ I. In ice which they eomrf do red to contain more mibes'W, than their,*3. They have la b e lle d th e ir h'l'.d.cru tftlcii wi11) the OSHA Asbestos l<ahhlj and they had hoped to convince nr. to do llKnwi?. Men.', inn wan fivide o f the l a 3# mrltn now e x is tin g ogoinst JohhB-M/mvllle remit tin g fro uouHabtiLUxi Rslier/fni; pu ye,! ngo. Wo aided the meeting w ith th eir promise to maid m; portion in; the retuiirxt sampler, o f Vuuduclull tnlen they had luialyxuil tmd repot'bed oil, The above statement concerning chryr.aU 3.? cam as a complete m,reprise to 11 sine.: our past studier, o f the mirier,! content o f a l l our ta lc ores and product;? had revealed no ohrynovi le. 'flic mineral,*j present in the bale product;; diacutiacd had been tietormined it*; he as fuJ iownr major non-ntfbeftbllbrm t r u m llt c and Jith onh yllito moderate serpentine (;u;fclgorite~j Lr,aril to) moderate talc trace quarts other gnuic.-i o f tnie produced by ia n te rb ilb in a separate uthie and a d l l f i c i l l t y in Urn Ckmvuinetay New YorK area contain Du* follow ing M inerals; major fibrous talc minor KiTpenUnfi (aublgorl bnll 1 xarii;'Lie) minor (tsbraU idnn authophy,! ti tu trace tpurtx P LA IN TIFF'S EX H IB IT RTV 6380 Blese grades axe l i s t e d as fibrous ta le s and axe la b e lle d with the OSHA Warning Label as required. No ch ry so tile had been detected in any Vanderbilt ta le product or ores. In view o f the discrepancy between the data presented'by Johns-Manville and those obtained by us an immediate in v e stig a tio n by RTV laboratory personnel o f " o f f the sh e lf" sample room m aterials representing the same products examined by Johns -M anville was begun to determine the accuracy o f the re su lts presented by Lamar and Carter. These in tern a l stu d ies, which included sp e cia l mineral separation and concentration techniques, fa ile d to detect any ch ry so tile . Sim ilar studies were conducted on a v a rie ty o f ores from various areas o f our mining oper atio n with sim ilar r e s u lts ; i . e. no ch ry so tile detected. Samples o f the tal.cs Johns-Manville had analyzed were requested and received from Johns-Manville on May 22, 1975* Lamar assured the author by telephone on May 21, 1975, that the e ig h t (8) samples sent were representative portions o f the m aterials examined by them. Ibur (4) o f the eight sanqoles received were selected as representing the four (if) materials Johns-M anville analyzed fo r "fib e r" counts and s p l i t in h a lf using a Caipco micro s p litte r . Two (2) of the RTV "off the shelf" samples (mentioned above) were also selected, and all six (6) samples coded as follows for further study: RTV Lab. No. Sample No. Talc Grade1*- CPS-206- I CPS-206- CPS-206-3 CPS- 2 06-4 CBS-206-5 CPS-206-6 JM RC-74255-1 RTV S-106 JM RC-7te55-2 JM RC-74255-3 RTV S-123 JM RC-74255-4 NTAL 200 IT 325 NYTAL 400 ASBESTINE 3X IT 3X ASBESTINE 325 * The use o f the ASBESTINE trademark would in d icate that these materials had been produced several years ago since the In tern ational Talc Company discontinued that termin ology in 1975- These s ix (6) samples lab elled -with only the RTV Lab. No. were sent to two (2) independent laboratories with the request that the m aterials be examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and by transm ission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area d iffr a c tio n (SAD) to determine the presence or absence o f ch ry so tile . I f present, an estimate o f the ch ry so tile content was also requested. The re s u lts obtained by both o f these laboratories lis t e d below are attached. Et M. Ventions, I n c ., Microanalysis laboratory 15825 Shady Grove Road R ockville, Maryland 20850 (301) 948-7400 Walter' C. McCrone A ssociates, Inc. 2820 South Michigan Avenue Chicago, I lli n o i s 60616 (312) 842-7100 The re s u lts show the absence o f any detectable ch ry so tile , confirming the data obtained earli c by RTV laboratory studies. We do not know wliat Joims-Manville personnel were counting, but i t obviously was not ch ry so tile . - -- --