Document 64bvaRYzGL4jzpo8R4VVXjEg

FILE NAME Newspaper & Magazine Articles NMA DATE 1973 July 20 DOC NMA136 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION LA Times - Asbestos Workers - Walking Backwards Until They Die AND NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE MIKE LA VELLE Historical Times Los Angeles Times Current File Jul 20 1973 ProQuest Historical Newspapers Los Angeles Times 1881-1985 1881-1985 1881-1985 Pg B9 AND NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE | Asbestos Workers Backwards Until They Die BY MIKE VELLE CHICAGO of the men in the asbestos workers union before he died used to walk : backwardsI had never seen this before until I began to care for asbestos workers You may wonder why asbestos workers walk backwards They don't always walk backwards It - is only going upstairs They are so short of breath that after two steps they have to sit down It is easier to go up a flight of stairs backwards than walking up It is a terrible as way to die That is from Dr. Irving Selikoff's testimony before the Senate Labor Committee in sup- port of the Occupational Safety and Health Act tiny asbestos particles It is a crippling often fatal lung disease similar to coal miners black lung marked by coughing shortness of breath and a scarring of lung tissue revealed in X rays Asbestosis was first reported in medical literature in 1907 by an English doctor Individual cases have been reported in the United States and Great Britain ever since Over the years the U.S. government has recommended a series of safe asbestos expo- sure levels each lower than the previous level Yet 12 of the deaths of workers at Johns Mike Lavelle a hot pipe bender writes about collar affairs for the Chicago doctors science seems to be a netural observ er If there are any government union or in- dustry crash programs change the asbestos Industry hazards I'm either ignorant of them or their administrators are doing a lousy job of advertising their efforts The difficulty in spreading the message of occupational hazards is that much of it is cu- mulative and undramatic A victim of a lung disease isn't dancing one day and dead the next It is very slow painful process not unlike cancer One could in fact call asbestos a form of industrial cancer Selikoff did a study of 632 asbestos workers with 20 or more years of exposure and found their death rate to be 25 greater than other workers in a similar age bracket The effects . Asbestos is a mineral composed of waxy white fibers not unlike dental floss in appear- _ Tribune of asbestos are summed up best by a worker who said ance Asbestos a mineral found in serpentine rock is virtually indestructible is resistant to heat cold and most chemicals It does not decay or corrode Though strong asbestos fibers are so soft and flexible that they can be spun and woven like cotton No matter how it is crushed smaller and smaller fibers result Asbestos has an estimated 3,000 industrial uses among them insulation for space rock- ets roof shingles siding packing gaskets enB gine blankets brake lining mufflers building construction and insulation home furnishings drapes rugs floors ceiling tiles pot. holders oven lining Asbestos has been called the magic mineral of the 20th century and as a measure of the ugly side of Industrial progress it even has a disease named after it asbestosis The disease results from breathing in the Manville Corp. the largest U.S. producer of asbestos between 1959 and 1972 resulted flom asbestosis Eliminating all exposure is technically feasible but for the moment no pressure for this seems to be coming from unions or govern- ment There seems to be a bit of economic black- mail in the asbestos manufacturers claim that if they are pressed to end all exposure they would be left with two options to a more favorable labor climate or automate the existing plants In either event workers are in what is fast becoming a deadly workhealth bind struggling for industrial safely Industry's response to their dilemma takes the form of threatening their jobs Except for a growing corps of dedicated At nighttime I can't sleep It just seems like I'm sore all over Now even get pains in the chest and down back and everything My wife don't sleep with me I cough too much at night I'm 43 and 1 feel like 75. Some progress is being made asbestos workers who previously could not look at their own X rays now can do so through their 1970 contract with Johns Manville Before then the company wouldn't give any valid medical information at all Even that is a new departure from the butter contracts of the 50s accord- ing to one union official We were aware of asbestosis then I couldn't help but notice it I saw people die from it However the time for action wasn't ripe in the 50s Well it's ripe now Ripe hell I'd say it's festering Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner Further reproduction prohibited without permission 150