Document 7RQEjV1ZxkkGvye5M7YgNZzg8

FILE NAME Newspaper & Magazine Articles NMA DATE 1972 June 16 DOC NMA065 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION NYT - High Levels of Asbestos Found In 3 Paints and 2 Talcums Here High Levels of Asbestos Found In 3 Paints and 2 Talcums Here By GRACE LICHTENSTEIN The York New York Times Currentfile Jun 16 1972. ProQuest Historical Newspapers New York Pg 79 Tunes 1851 - 2002 High Levels of Asbestos Found In 3 Paints and 2 Talcums Here BY GRACE LICHTENSTEIN | Three brands of textured ceil- ing paint and two brands of talcum powder have been named by the city's Environ- mental Protection Administration as having heavy asbestosfiber levels that might contrib ute to lung cancer years after a person inhaled their dust The paints named at a news conference at a construction site on West 147th Street yes- terday are finishCoustex textured spray manufactured by Amsterdam Color Works the Bronx said to contain 50 cent mixed asbestos mineralpser Texure manufactured by Purity Paint Products Corpora tion Brooklyn said to contain 60 to 80 per cent mixed asbes- tos minerals Imperial QT texture finish manufactured by the U.S. Gypsum Company said to contain 5 to 10 per cent of one kind of asbestos | The talcs are Landers baby powder and Johnson & Johnson baby powder According to a spokesman for the Department of Air Re- sources the paints are de livered in powder form mixed into a liquid then sprayed on ceiling interiors to finish Acting on information from the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 9 the depart ment had several paint samples analyzed by Dr. Irving Selikoff of the Mount Sinai Environmental Sciences Laboratory who reported the high asbes tos quantities The department issued 13 desist orders beginning in May to builders who were using the paints The city's new pollution code which went into effect Feb. 27 outlaws the spraying of any material containing asbestos Air Resources Commissioner Fred C. Hart said yesterday that as a result the manufac turers had come forward with asbestos paints The environment agency's concern about asbestos in baby powder surfaced almost a year ago when Jerome Kretchmer the Environmental Protection Administrator advised consum ers to stop using talcum until suspicions about its asbestos content were cleared up At the time Mr. Kretchmer sald two brands tested showed from 5 to 25 per cent asbestos fibers in them but declined to name them until tests on other brands were made Other Tests Awaited After repeated inquiries from newsmen the agency released a letter dated June 8 from James R. Marshall director of public information to a con- sumer naming Landers and Johnson & Johnson as the brands He said the agency was still awaiting results of tests on other brands since it suspected that virtually every talcum powder contains some asbes- tos i A spokesman for Johnson & Johnson denied yesterday that the company's baby powder contained asbestos saying the Food and Drug Administration in the last year had accepted test results from three independent laboratories proving this He said the E.P.A. knew of these test results The Lan- ders Company could not be reached for comment The Food and Admin tration is also investigating the possible health hazards of tal- cum containing asbestos In an interview Mr. Marshall suggested that plain corn starch was a cheap and acceptable substitute for baby powder Dr. Selikoff considered the leading health authority on as- bestos has long warned of the danger of lung cancer Asbestos Spray is used to fireproof the steel beams of new buildings Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner Further reproduction prohibited without permission permision