Document 8OVbr6OEkJ39ZjwX0oXLvyX5

June 30, 1978 Mr. S. S. Conway, Jr. Troy Office RE: Asbestos Information Association The quarterly meeting of the Board of Directors of AIA was called for June 28, 1978, in New York City. The meeting, was scheduled to coincide with the "International Conference on Health Hazards of Asbestos Exposure", being held at the same place and time. The purpose of this memo is simply to inform you of the rather disastrous outcome of the conference and the . implications and conclusions of the various presentations. Although I did not personally attend the conference, it was summarized during AIA's Board meeting. Apparently, . . the first two days of the conference were the only days when any scientific information was aired and exchanged. The third add final day was apparently a carefully orches trated performance by Drs. Bingham and Selikoff, and others., for a very self-serving purpose. The world-wide scientific community in attendance at this meeting held the final result in a very low esteem, and since I had an opportunity to discuss the results with various physicians from Australia, U.K., and South America I know that most of the foreign physicians felt that they had been used for a domestic, j political purpose and some of them described the meeting as a typical North American Science Conference where politic0 ` and science is mixed at will and without sufficient attentio to the facts. The conclusions of the meeting were as follows: Positive: Vv It was proven that mesothelioma can be caused by other substances than asbestos, such as in the well-known Turkish mesothelioma case where the disease apparently is caused by Zedilite. . SPNY 000480 Mr. S. S. Conway, Jr )V Page 2 For the first time at a conference of this nature, no one raised any argument as to cigarette smoking and its direct contribution to pulmonary fibrosis. Negative; No radically new developments and findings were revealed during this meeting. Before the end of the year 1978, the exposure limit in the U.K. is anticipated to be reduced to one (1) fiber per . cubic centimeter. " ... Based on information presented during this conference, it is anticipated that most doctors will refuse to discard asbestos exposure as a possible cause of various diseases, regardless of the length and degree of exposure! . > On July 14, 1978, ABC Television will be broadcasting a documentary on asbestos, and starting on July 17, the Government will broadcast radio and television ads explain ing the dangers of asbestos exposure. These ads will be directed specifically towards the shipping, construction and automotive industries. Newspaper ads will also be taken out - in strategically located citis such as Newport News and Detroit. The potential impact of this campaign is difficult > to predict, but it is entirely conceivable that some kind of asbestos hysteria could break out. . . Although no new and tougher exposure limits are antici pated as a result of this conference, the volume of law suits ; are expected to increase drastically. X had the opportunity , to listen to one of the ads, which simply requests that any-,. , : one ever*exposed to asbestos visit his physician.: Since;*' however, there is no known cure for some of the ailments, it is quite possible that some will go straight to their lawyers instead. The asbestos iddustry has lost two recent law suits. One was a mesothelioma case allegedly resulting from exposure in a Virginia shipyard. The exposure took place only two years prior to filing the law suit. This in spite of the fact that the latency period for mesothelioma is around 30 years and that mesothelioma can be caused by other materials as well. The plaintiff was awarded $750,000 in this suit. The other suit involved a $150,000 award in Illinois. SPNY 000481  :? Mr. S. S. Conway, Jr : .r-.. >. Page 3 The real danger of this conference and the upcoming radio, television, and newspaper ads is a significant increase in law suits. It was furthermore stated that a large number of the visitors to this conference consisted of legal counsel to plaintiffs. Bl/bb B.. Iwarsson SPNY 000482