Document ExBnw5rxmMe4eLx6bOBR3q9qg

DATABASE :EAP *** Reference number- 10734 :NO 771128.004 :TL Memo BM Munday to JF Blaxiand * Professor Hobb's letter of 18.11.77 :SO AUTHOR Munday BM OCCUPATION Manager, Environment & Occupational Health ORGANISATION CSR Limited PLACE Sydney :TY MEMO :AD KEYWORDS Hobbs :TT ***Page 8 Internal Correspondence To Mr J F Blaxiand NUMBER E.O. 43/77 FROM B M Munday DATE 28 November 1977 SUBJECT ASBESTOS. Prof. Hobb's letter of 18 November 1977. Of the two 'steps' that Prof. Hobbs sees as necessary or desirable, only No. 1 is necessary from our point of view. I regard (1) as essential to establish the validity of the work already done. Unless it is done, disease incidence rates could be underestimated by up to a factor of 4. Co-operation with Dr Clarke in S.A. could cut clerical costs. No. 2 in my opinion is a separate project, and clearly reflects Dr Armstrong's personal interests. It completely goes against Hobbs previous stance of not contacting FWE's, because there is nothing that could be done for them medically. He now propose to contact all W.A. FWE's (and relatives of deceased FWE's?), and subject them to interviews and tests to establish their health status. I see no need for us to support such a study. In any case, even if the relationship between smoking, blue asbestos exposure, and lung cancer is still not definitive, further work on this relationship is somewhat academic, as blue asbestos usage is either banned or heavily restricted. In short, I think we should provide some support for (1); but keep out of (2). * * *Handwriting BUM c.c. Mr C W Davis : ## 3681