Document 4a6Qq86Dw8ZjrV25mxJdQ8m0Q

THE UNITED GAS IM PRO VEM ENT COMPANY 14-01 A R C H S T R E E T P H ILA D ELP H IA 5, P A. November 20, 1957 Dr. Robert A. Kehoe Un iversity o f Cin cin n ati The Kett er in g Laboratory College o f Medicine - Eden Avenue Cin cin n ati 19, Ohio *' Dear Dr. Kehoe: I wish to thank you fo r your kin d l e t t e r o f November 15, 1957-* * Our Company h as p er fect ed gas fi l t e r i n g d evices fo r use on dom e st ic gas ap p lian ces. The fi lt e r in g medium i s a sp e c ia l m in eral wool manu fact u r ed to our sp e c ific a t io n s by Joh n s-Man ville Corp. a t t h e ir plan t in Richmond, In dian a. . The act u al f i l t e r s ar e assem bled and d ist r ib u t e d by a number of lice n se e s in var iou s p a r t s of th e coun try, one o f whom r aise d th e question of a p o ssib le h ealth h azard t o t h e ir employees from h an dlin g th e m in eral wool packin gs. Mr. Je sse Lieberman o f th e Department o f Health o f the City of P h ilad elph ia having no in form ation on the m atter su ggested t h at I w rite to you but gave me th e in cor r ect ad d r ess, which accoun ts fo r th e delay in the d eliv er y o f my l e t t e r . In th e meantime th e Joh n s-Man ville Corp. fu rn ish ed us with the follow in g in form ation : "The m at e r ial i s a complex si l i c a t e con tain in g no asb e st o s or fr ee s i l i c a and, t h er efo r e , cannot be a fa c t o r in causin g s i l i c o s i s . "Some y ear s ago, a survey was conducted by th e I n d u st r ia l Health Sect ion of M etropolitan l i f e In suran ce Company at one o f our p lan t s where m in eral wool had been manufactured fo r n ear ly fo r t y y e ar s. "Th is survey was most thorough and in clu ded an exam in ation o f th e X-rays o f n ear ly 400 employees, the m ajor it y o f whom had been engaged in m an ufacturin g and h an dlin g m in eral wool fo r more th an t e n y ear s and a lar ge number fo r more th an tw en ty-five y e a r s. Not a sin gle case o f s i l i c o sis or even o f abnormal lun g fib r o sis was discover ed as a Resu lt o f t h ese exam in ation s, and we were ad vised t h at we might sa fe ly conclude m in eral wool du st was 1innocuous from th e stan dpoin t o f lun g f i b r o s i s *." Dr. Robert A. Kehoe Un iversity of Cincinnati -2- November 2 0, 1957 We vrould. appreciate hearing from you i f your own in vestigation s reveal jany infoimation at variance with the above. Very t r u ly yours, C3 . C. W. Jordan QWJ: cw Novem ber 15, 1957 M r , C . W. Jo r d an The United Gas im provem en t Company 1401 A r ch St r e e t P h iladelph ia 5, P en n sylvan ia D e ar M r , Jo r d an : You r le t t e r of Sep t em b er 13 a r r iv e d on m y d e sk a ft e r a som ew h at circuitUous tr ip occasion ed by its in cor r ect ad d r e ss. P ar tly becau se I could not accoun t fo r it s com in g to m e, but m ain ly b ecau se I've had no tim e to handle an y but the m ost im m ediately u rgen t item s of m y cor r espon d en ce fo r th e p ast se v e r al m on th s, m y r ep ly is t ar d y . I m u st asjfe fo r you r fo r b e ar a n c e . Until fa ir ly recen tly, we in th is Lab orator y h ave h ad no d ir ect experien ce o r con cer n with th e p r ob lem ?, if an y, in volved in th e h an dlin g of g la ss wool to which, I take it , you r in quiry r e fe r s. We a r e lookin g into cer tain p r a c t ic a l a sp e c t s of t h e m at t e r a t t h is t im e (I a ssu m e th at t h is fa c t m u st h ave com e to you r atten tion th rough som e m ean s), an d if an y sign ifican t h azar d s a r e in volved in th e h an dlin g of th e var iou s fo r m s of th is produ ct, we sh all probably lear n of th em . Tide m ay take som e tim e, and 1 cannot an ticipate when o r in what for m our r ep or t on th is m atter w ill ap p e ar . I sh ould say , I th ink, th at Xam not aw ar e of th e existen ce of an y sign ifican t h azar d jba th e h an dlin g of fib r e g l a ss, beyon d th e ob viou s lik elih ood th at som e d egr ee of m ech an ical in ju ry to th e skin m ay occu r un der cer tain con d it ion s. I sh ould th in k th at th e u se of le at h e r gloves would obviate th e gr eater p art of th is h azard . I r ealize th at a gu ess of th is type is not to be taken ver y se r io u sly , an d th at only experien ce, accom pan ied by carefu l and cr it ical ob ser vation , can se r v e a u sefu l pu rpose in su ch a m at ter . D esp ite a few am b igu it ies in th e scan ty m ed ical lit e r a t u r e on th is su b ject , I think it ver y un likely th at th ere is dan ger of an y sign ifican t in ju ry to the r e sp ir at o r y ap p ar atu s from the m at e r ial th at m ay be su spen ded in th e a ir b reath ed b y m en who w ork with th is m at e r ial. H er e again , I su gge st th at the b e t t e r p ar t of w isdom would b e to withhold ju dgm en t u n til th e fact s h ave b een so r t e d ou t, I on ly com m en t a s Xh ave ab ove fo r th e r e a so n th at I know of no in ciden ts of occu pation al or igin th at would lead m e to b elieve o r to h ave th e stron g su spicion , th at th is m at er ial h as an y very gr eat capacity for h arm . Very tru ly you rs, RAK ef Robert A . Keh oe, M. D.