Document Dv2rg9g2nKNj84k2ExdwoBdk5

FILE NAME Corning OC DATE 1942 May 19 & June 4 DOC OC288 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Correspondence Between Corning & Dept of Labor & Industries STATE OF WASHINGTON Amer DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIES ROBT H. HARLIN DIRECTOR OLYMPIA May 19 1942 1 JUN Corning Fiberglas Corporation Toledo Ohio Gentlemen We will very much appreciate receiving any information pamphlets or references which you may have concerning the frequency treatment and prevention of occupational disease or injury from the handling or use of Fiberglas when used for insulation purposes such as in hot water tanks refrigerators and so forth What has been your experience regarding claims for injury to nose throat or lungs from the breathing of very fine particles of glass such as would occur in handling the insulating materials during repair way after served as Are the small glass particles changed in any they have been heated that is after having an insulating material for some time supply He will us with s ait with interest any data you Very truly yours Lo just . SAFETY ENGINEER 01 501 1082 June 4 1942 CC WH Thomas A. E. Kincaid lir Herman luft Safety Engineer Department of Labor and Industries Clympia Washington Dear Hr Luft After an extended absence from the city I find on my return your letter of May 19 and I regret that our reply is thus unavoidably delayed We are glad to respond to your inquiry about health and handling characteristics of Fiberglas materials Although Fiberglas is a basio material that has been in use for more than 10 years it is right and proper that anyone unfamiliar with it should ask questions of the kind that you have set forth and you are entitled to all the pertinent data For that reason this letter must be long We enclose a reprint of an article entitled Fiberglas Health Hazard Investigation which appeared in the January 1942 issue of INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE The author is Er Walter J. Siebert of St. Louis As indicated in the opening . ^aragraphs Dr. Siebert wrote the article to summarize an investigation made by him during June 1941 for St. Louis Local No. 1 of the Asbestos Workers Union Dr. Diebert is pathologist and director of laboratories in five hospitals in the Ct Louis area Formerly he was assistant professor of pathology in the School of Medicine in Washington University This articole was abstracted in the February 1942 issue of IZDUSTRIAL HYGIENE DIGEST A reprint of the abstract is enclosed Among the points covered in Dr. Siebert's report of his investigation are the following Since 1934 manufacture of Fiberglas thermal and acoustical insulation has been centered in Newark Ohio where hundreds of employees have been continuously exposed to the material in all stages of manufacturing fabricating and packaging operations On the basis of this experienos covering millions of man hours of exposure we have prepared xhibit A - Fiberglas Standards F4.2.1 entitled How Workmen Landle Fiberglas Thermal Insulating materials In addition Fiberglas insulation has been aupplied in large volume to dosons of equipment manufacturers in Chio like Westinghouse in Mansfield Frigidaire in Dayton Newark Stove Company in Newark as well as to scores of other manufacturers throughout the country 01 501 1076 a of the upper respiratory tract as well as any disease of this type cassed diseases in Disssss dust are recognized as compensable by inhaanldatiionnvoifewanoyf itnhjeureixotuesnt and duration of exposurteo Fiberglas in Uhis Ohio will attach significanes to we are sure you Exhibit June 17 1941 from Mr. J. A. Photostatic copy of letter dated of Chie te Exhibit B -- Clains Referee of The Industrial Commission Shaw Dr. Kalter J. Siebart For your information this letter is Mr. Shaw's letter con- Exhibit Exhibit No. 3 in Dr. Siebert's report tains the following statement of ... we have never had a claim filedthefoarlledgiesdcianshealatiinhaolatinon upper respiratory tract caused by of Fiberglass particles was to inquirs of eye sur noce and One phase of Dr. Siebert's investigation notice any unusual incidenes throat specialista indNiesowradrekrsOahmioongwhtehtehierrptrhievyate patients who are employed at of upper respiratory Fiberglas Corporation as compared with their patients who are Newark Corning 25 per cent of the wage earners in employed elsewhere ( Approximately Replies are as follows are Fiberglas employees Exhibit C Photostatic B. Hatch to of letter dated June 17 1941 from cDorp.ySiebert containing this statement Dr. Clark My practice severs a cross section of all parts of there was any larger persentage with rea- standpoint of the above piratory infections among the employees than mentioned Corning Fiberglas corporation from any other walk of life This letter is Exhibit No. 44 in the Siebert Report of letter dated June 17 1941 from Dr. John Exhibit D - BP.hotHoasntdartiiccksctoopyDr. Siebert containing the following state ment I have treated my share of During these three years that I have Corning employees I can safoeflhyeasdayor throat niontfieccetdionnos uanmuosnugalthperseepopnedoeprlaencas e compared to my other patients who are not employed there This letter is Exhibit No. 48 in the Siebert Report that Aetna Insurance Company underwrites We believe you will be interested to know to all Fiberglas employees This pro- various forms of group coverage extended tection is described in booklet covering life disability sick- Exhibit Exhibit B - Astra Group Insurance benefits available to Fiberglas ness and hopitalization hopitalization employess All employees are so covered 01 501 1077 -30 Concerning ^ stna'sexperience with the Fiberglas group now numbering nearly 3,000 employees we respectfully direct your attention to Exhibit F -- Photostatic copy of letter dated June 11 1941 from ifr John A. Hill Toledo General Agent of Aetna life Insurance Company to Mr. Edward C. Ames of Corning Fiberglas Corporation containing these statements The health of your employees has been better than average This is evidenced by the fact that we now have in effect a 35 reduction in rate on both the Sickness and Hospitalization insurance carried by your employees This is the result of nearly four full years exposure and develops a rate lower than any similar industry that we have insured In addition we have Hospitalization coverage which is developing a Loss Patio after over three years experience far lower than almost any of the 200 industries we have insured in Chio As a further evidence our asualty Company carries what is known as Products Liability at an extremely low rate and no claim has ever been presented indicating of course that there is no hasard in the use of fiberglas or any of its products Although your compensation insurance is carried with the State our Company does have the coverage on your new plant in Ashton Thode Island and is writing this at a rate of approximately forty cents a hundred which will indicate how safe we regard the risk to be - not only from an accident view point but from an occupational hazard view point In other words from our own experimmee we do not feel that there is any different hasard then from any normal manufacturing operation and we feel the hasard is much less than in the manufacture of Rockwool Slagwool Asbestos or any of the called 85 magnesia products Aetna's appraisal of the lung hasards and the corresponding underwriting risk involved ~= as compared with other materials used in the insulating trades - is further detailed in Exhibit G -- Multilithed copy of letter dated June 21 1941 to ir Hill from Kr Talter S. Paine Manager of the Engineering and Inspection Department of the Aetna Casualty and Surety Company containing this statement I believe that most articles covering occupational disease exposure definitely warn of the hazards of asbestosis grow ing out of the use of asbestos Relative to the use of fiberglas rook wool or slag wool I have discussed this matter very thoroughly with our Fedical Department insofar as it applies to the installation of glass wool and its relation to silicosis and I know of no better answer to give you than their direct statements 01 501 1078 ~4- We may definitely state that this is not possible tased upon the established fact that silicates of which glass wool is composed will not produce silicosis or a similar condition Additional evidence that you may wish to consider is Exhibit H -- Photostatic copy of a letter dated Catober 3 1941 to Mr. Paine from Mr. J. Dewey Dorsett Manager Casualty Department Associa tion of Casualty and Surety Executives and attached list of member companies In answer to your inquiry as to whether we have received any reports from our Member Companies of claims alleging the contraction of silicosis or similar lung disease from Fiberglas or glass wool as distinguished from mineral wool a search of our records indicates that no such claim has been reported Cypical of letters in our files from manufacturers using Fiberglas insulation is xhibit xhibit I -- Photostatic copy of letter dated kay 19 1941 from ir W. R. Raker Works kanager of The Moore Corporation range manufacturers Joliet Illinois to A. C. Brauer Supply Company Fiberglas marketer St. Louis Mr. Moore's letter contains this statement We have used this material Fiberglas insulation now for approximately a year and believe it to be every bit as efficient as the various makes of rock wool and slag wool on the market today Besides this we think it has one great advantage of being a muon cleaner insulation than the average run that you find as it is almost entirely free of any kind of suot material and is practically dustless This is to our advantage as wo have had some materials in our plant that made it necessary for our mo to wear respirators while handling it This material however is clean enough for us to eliminate the use of respirators in our present set For many years Fiberglas insulation has been used in Budd Streamlined trains <f interest in this connection is Exhibit J - Photostatic copy of cover page and pages 1 and 5 of Safe Practice Bulletin No. " in the Occupational Disease Prevention Series published in 1989 by the Pennsylvania Lepartment of Labor and Industry The author is Ir I. H. McIlvain Medical Director and Personnel Manager of Edward G. Budd amufacturing Company Intitled Insulation in Etrean Traina the Eulletin in / cludes this statement on page 6 Fiberglas provides the qualities generally sought as an insulation product in stream trains and in addition ms proven safe for handling purposes by our workmen Fiberglas yarns made of textile glass fibers are being used by members of the medical profession for various humanitarian uses One is described for example in 01 501 070 -= Exhibit E Photostatic copy of letter dated May 13 Corning Fiberglas Corporation St. Philip Schols Et Louis eye ear nose 1941 to W. A. Thomas , Louis from Dr. Roy and throat specialist We are informed that an article by Dr. Schols describing the use of Fiberglas yarns for surgical sutures will appear in the June 1942 issue of THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SURGEH Besides the use of Fiberglas yarns for surgical sutures another example of a humanitarian of Fiberglas is as a tracer thread in surgical sponges described by Edward F. Lewison M.D. in an article entitled A Safe Surgical Sponge on pages 1-3 of SUEGERY TYNECOLOGY AND OBSTETRICS November 1989 and discussed further in another article by Ir Lewison entitled Mayable Cause as a Factor of Cafety in Surtical Operations on pages 39-40 of the January 1942 issue of the SULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS and in an article entitled Radio- paque Thread a fuide to the Lost Sponge by Dr. Lewison in the April 1942 issue of FODERK HOSPITAL In addition tape woven of Fiberglas continuous filament is being supplied under .rmy specifications for use in medical field kits to filter blood plasma during transfusions made to reduce shock This use is described in a current advertise- ment reprint enclosed which was approved by Army medical officers before release It is also described in the Kay 1942 issue of SURGICAL BUSINESS We believe it is significent that Fiberglas yarns are used by the medical profession in connection with these applications and that they indicate there is nothing toxic in the The evidence cited above rests on our experience in the manufacture and marketing of Fiberglas Luration and extent of exposure sufficient to warrant generalizations no validated claims for occupational disease attributable to Fiberglas as differentiated from other materials favorable customer reaction favorable reports from insurance underwriters use of glass fiber products in surgery We believe you will agree however that in any scientific discussion of the subject this mpirical evidence is significant especially when it is supported by scientifio ata For example xhibit M -- Annual Report of The Saranac Laboratory for the Qulosis of the Edward L. rudeau Foundation for containing the following statement by ir Leroy Study of Tuberthe Year 1940 V. ardnert The apparent lack of pulmonary damage from exposure to glass wool dust is being demonstrated by an inhalation experiment For over a year animals have now been exposed to as high a concentration of this material as could be maintained with no serious effect upon their lungs The dust has been produced by breaking into snort lengths the finest textile glass that is made but none of the fibres that are floating in the air can ^,,e found in the lungs of exposed animals Their tendency unlike that of asbestos to form like masses upon any object with which they comme in contact probably prevents their inhalation Slight smounts of chronic inflamation similar to those observed with other harmless custs have resulted from accumulated particulate debris These very fine fibrous particles are the product of the violent beating used to break up the material 01 501 1080 j= Exhibit M - Reprint of Researches of Mellon Institute 1940-1941 in NEWS SUITION AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY April 10 1941 which contains the following reference to Dr. Gardner's works L. U. Cardner director The Saranac Laboratory has reported on the researches which the foundation supperts at his institution saying in parts .'We have been studying the effect of inhaled glass wool Apparently even the finest textile glaas set up as an atmospherie dust is not inhaled in appreciable concentrations and does not produce any dangerous effects upon the lung You may wish to have for consideration also the summary of evidence and findings based thereon which constitute Exhibit N - Multilithed copy of Recapitulation and Conclusions pages 65-69 of the Fiberglas Health Hazard Investigation by Dr. Siebert which is referred to above We enclose also Exhibit 8 -- Brochure entitled Health Aspects of Fiberglas Materials which summarizes many of the exhibits referred to above We appreciate your inquiry and hope that these data will supply the answers to your questions Yours respectfully COENING FIBERGLAS CORPORATION Edward C. Ames te Assistant to the Fresident 01 501 1081 1081