Document 6woxa93pbvBq28QDjBp9Gkaro

PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT March 8, 1971 Bcfoetn cr^ Pape 102 .ASBESTOS COMPANIES ORGANIZE TO REBUT 'UNINFORMED CRITICISM' FROM ENVIRONMENTALISTS Asbestos is not a major air pollutant and studies are reinforcing the position chat asbestos poses no hazard to the general public, spokesmen fop--the asbestos manufacturing industry told the press at a briefing to announce formation of the Asbestos information Association/Korth America. Organized by eight of the largest asbestos manufacturers, New York-based AIA/KA will publicly rebut "irresponsible and uninformed criticism." and provide information or. asbes tos and health. Harold KcKabb, president of Piping and Plastics Industries Division, Certain-teed Products Corp. is AIA/KA president. Directors are from National Gypsum Co., GAP Corp., Flintkote Co., Johns-Manville Corp., Panacon Corp., Woodward Iron Co., and P.aybestos-Manhattan. New York City and Philadelphia are currently considering'proposals to ban the use of asbestos in spray insulations used in high-rise building constructions, and a rapicily grr-.;ir.g number of city =r,fl et-.ti-p onvernments are looking to ban or strictly regulate certain asbestos products, AIA/KA secretary, W.P. Raines, told the press. Attacks on asbestos from politicians have come from many concerned for the public welfare but others represent "little more than attempts to cash in on the current interest -in the environment," he said. Despite evidence that brake linings release only a small fraction of their asbestos when brakes are applied, many "doctors, writers, politicians, and others" still point to brake lining wear as a substantial source of asbestos air contamination. Asbestos in Air of Small Consequence Actually the amount of asbestos in community air is of small consequence, according to Raines. A Kew Yorker, in a lifetime of 70 years, would be exposed to an amount no greater than employe exposure in an asbestos mine or plant in two-and-a-half working days, at levels recommended as safe by industrial hygienists. - "There is no evidence, scientific or otherwise, that anyone in the general public has ever contracted any disease from exposure to the minute amounts of asbestos that exist in the community air," he said, and potential hazard to people living near asbestos mines, mills, and plants has disappeared with development of dust control technology. There is no reason to ban the use of any asbestos-containing product and it would, in fact, be unwise to substitute unproven materials, the possible health effects of which are unknown, he said. *** . . ' , I* CAPCO JEN 0003399