Document GK5Bd4EvNBqKXE1oNBkKagqBm

NASHVILLE TENNESSEAN DECEMBER 12, 1967 PLAIN ill-FS EXHIBIT CT --131 AsbssioffiprWs CancerJie Hit . i/T-i-cff - cov.-,.- j jc-A v By JIM SQL'IRES ' Staff Correspondent NEW YORK -- There is no evidence to support a recent statement by a Nashville doc tor that use of asbestos--ce ment water pipe might cause cancer, a noted cancer re searcher said here yesterday. Dr. George Wright, chair man of The Institute fnr Oc cupational and Environmental Health, said ho did not think such a relationship "will ever be established." (Continued From I'agc One) merit manufacturers from bid ding on Metro walerpipc pur chases. The council committee on purchasing had stipgcsierf that Lawrence allow asbestos-ce ment manufacturers to bid be cause the product is less ex pensive than the cast iron pipe urn'-' Ix'uiu used. SNELL WROTE that asbes tos is a known cause of can cer and can contaminate drinking water. The physician WRIGHT, HEAD of the de partment of medical research in internal medicine at St. Luke's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, said a letter from Dr. James Snell, an assistant pro fessor at Vanderbilt Univer sity school of medicine, sug gesting such a relationship `apparently arises out of an said he did not believe this fact had been brought to the attention of the L.S. Public Health Service. V, right, an adviser to the L'.S. Pubic Health Service, said the adresioo-ccment pipe industry had long been aware of a link between certain tvpcs ot asbestos libers and incomplete perspective" of the problem. Wright spoke to nine Metro counciin-.cri here to tour a Johns-Manvilie plant in New ark, N.J., a manufacturer of asbestos-cement pipe. Snell sent a letter last month to .Metro waterworks director Robert L. Lawrence supporting Lawrence's deci sion to prohibit asbcstor-cc- (Turn to Tape 12, Column 1) lung cancer and with Me sothelioma, a rare malignant tumor found on [he lur.g cov erin'' and the pa^tmintrstinal tract. He pointed out. however, that asbestosis (a lung tissue disease) and lung cancer arc caused only by inhalation of certain asbestos fibers in large amounts and over long periods nf time. VFSOTHELH1MA. he said, has never been linked posi tive':*' w 11 h s v allowed amounts nf asbestos and is ''extremely rare." "Evidence ot research indi cates that virtually everyone is exboseri to asbestos fibers." he said. "In fact, it would ap pear reasonable to assume that there is no such thing as not hating been' ex|v*cd. If mere exposure is a cause, lie would nil lime it." Wright card v, iJesurcnil use of asbestr, libers in insula tion, electrical wiring and stove ovens and toasters. ; `THERE I> A great up swing ir. the use cf Esbesirs fiber, bn: ihe tnc.der.c" or cancer has actually taller, off." Wright said. Wright said a.-eestos-eement pipe, consisting of 20"- as bestos fiber, bus beer. ir. water systems m some areas for as long as 20 years. In many instances. Jie said, there is no evidence of wear in these pipes to release as bestos fiber. "After this many years of experience, if thesv fiber," were to he a source nf Meso thelioma -- a dramatic tumor -- it would be known," Wright stated. "lilts IVOLI.D nut escape. This is not a new point of in terest to the industry," he added. Wright said mn nufacturers of asbestos products were among the first to discover its possible biologic."! effects and have spent `"millions of dollars" in the field. The doctor said he is pre paring a written answer to Snell's statement. "T don't know Snob " his background in this area" Wright said, "but nn doctor is knowledgeable in all areas. I have snout much of my life in tins iiclii, and e\cn 1 am not " SNELL WROTE Lawrence Nov. u. stating he would consider (lie use of asbestoscement pipe "a medical haz ard of significant degree" un til the L'.S. Public Health Ser vice had cheeked it out com pletely. Officials of the Johns-Man vilie Co., asked about this yes terday, said the Public Health Service is among Us custo mers. "We have sold them thou sands of feet of pipe," said Jay Baker, product manager. "I feel certain we will sell them much more " THE COl'NC ILMEN arc scheduled to tour the manu facturing plan! and research center today. Tile company chums tIs product will save Metro $200,000 a year on pipe purchases.