Document 0g6xgYq27Nw44k9kzdG5ELX0m

FILE NAME: Special Asbestos (SA) DATE: 1976 Oct 28 DOC#: SA006 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Letter to US News and World Report from Special Materials Inc. J October 28, 1976 U. S. NEWS and WORLD REPORT 2300 North Street, NW Washington, DC 20037 Gentlemen: I have just returned to the United States from a business trip overseas and read your September 20th issue of U.S. News and world Report. On page 70, I noticed your article on "the latest on causes of cancer". As an engineer who has worked in the asbestos industry for 20 years now, I am very irritated by the fact that American newspapers and magazines (yourselves included apparently) pickup press releases by Dr. I. J. Selikoff and print Selikoff's allegations, as if the man actually knew what he was talking about. At some point, journalists are going, to have to look at this man and wonder why any doctor has to release a press release a week, each one more terrible than the last. I wonder if anyone ha3 questioned Mr. Selikoff's motivations for these press releases. It would seem that an inquiring journalistic mind might question this. The asbestos industry has gone a long way, very rapidly to clean up the recognized hazzards associated with our product. Most of these hazzards have been well under control for several years now. It's necessary to spend money and capital to make the work place safe for the worker. It's something else again for self-serving individuals to condemn an industry with allegations and scare tatics designed to serve special interest groups. Does youV'lack of checking on Selikoff's news releases indicate the general quality of your investigative reporting? If you are interested, I would be glad to put you in touch with people who can give you a better picture of what our indusjajp^ is doing, and what the actual hazzards are. Please let know if I can be of assistance. * Very truly yours, SPECIAL MATERIALS, INC. Robert Carlson RC/dm cc: Ian Gardner Bruce C. Machln John M. Clinton Spec_Mat_0067609