Document J3kpXNKEQ2J27qvZqV9YoNeMZ

FILE NAME: Union Carbide (UC) DATE: 1968 Jan 19 DOC#: UC173 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Letter with Report - 'More on Asbestosis,' & Newspaper Articles - 'Asbestos Dust Links to Cancer,' IN TE R N A L CO RR ESPO NDENC E UNION C A R BID E CORPORATION 270 PARK AVENUE, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10017 To (Ham) OiWtiort location Copy to MT. John A. Riddle Chemicals & Plastics P 0 B 'O X K King City, California 93930 oot. January 19, 1968 Originating O.pt. Med 1CS1 Aniworing /otftr <iato Saijoct Dear John: The relation between crocidolite and mesothelioma seems to be pretty strongly established by experience in South Africa and elsewhere. The relation between chrysotile and mesothelioma is not clear. If it exists, it apparently is much less prounced than that shown by crocidolite. The limit of 5 MPPCF that we observe in our operations is still recognized in the United States as satisfactory for chryso tile, but there is strong feeling that it is much too high for crocidolite. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see supnlied-air respirators recommended for handling the latter. * In our own operations with chrysotile, I feel that we should try to control the dust to levels as far below 5 MPPCF as reason ably possible. That is, I don't believe we should be content with control that just maintains the level at 5 MPPCF. Actually, this figure is known as a threshold guide and not a level that strictly defines safe and unsafe conditions. There is some thought that metals associated with asbestos either from the ore or from milling machines, etc., may be part of the problem. Investigation is underway to evaluate this potential; and as soon as I hear more about it, I'll let you know. FWMrdmf D 13 TR I3 U TIO N J . A . Riddle L. F . C re w /--> R. O . Martfn^' O W .E.K e .'c a p p le Q ] A . A . Andrade 0 G . C . Brice 0 Shifters 0 J. L. Myers K. A . Wood D S. Kamens C . fjssels K. West File Very truly yours, . -----, Paul W. McDaniel Industrial Hygiene Engineer RECE JAN 2 U.C.C. CHEM. UCC 023540 i.V<h c e i v e o -JAy? ^ uir 1060 F13 '^v!- ..uiy have Iicon ,, . c chsm. a PiAST.es U- vif. -.ing candidates for boards have been. . ` Stacies to return should be ...ninish tho rate of emigration in ..icuts for career guidance of trainees om l and that more opportunities should or academic careers. The Minister of Health studying these recommendations. *i10 loss of 300 (ioctors a year is indeed serious, but should be seen in proportion to tho numbers Britain .i' in gains from other countries. Last year almost 2,000 ' nil of doctors from the Commonwealth alono applied to enter u rn . Britain. In 1(W3, tho most recent year for which tview ligurca arc available!, there were G,000 doctors working . lilted in National Health hospitals who had been bom now abroad--about 30 per cent of the total. Of general' rum, practitioners 2,G00, or 12 per cent of tho total, were born abroad. It every doctor were to practise in the m of country of his birth, Britain would not bo tho gainer. ar-- But this is not to decry any efforts that tho ministry ritish may now make to encourage the return of expatriates, ' and to allay tho discontent of those who would follow wiil them. . court i:n ittos More on Asbestosis . <i to T h a t there, arc risks associated with asbestos is not tain now disputed. A roview of tho problem as it occurs nncli- in Britain has just been published as a memorandum :ctcm oy the Advisory Panel on Problems Arising from the been Use of Asbestos {H.vISO, 3s. 9d.). The advisory panel, .icivin sot up in 19G5 by HM Factory Inspectorate, is respon sible for considering the use of asbestos in relation to the health of those directly or indirectly oxposed. to id its -sbestos in their occupations. Over the whole country had tho panel estimates that about 20,000 persons are a for cxpQCd to asbestos in the uso or handling of the fibres. ioing The figure is probably higher than this; people can ; the easily be put at risk by working noar to whero asbestos riatc is handled. Tile present Asbestos Industry Regulations, 'Sons 1931, arc applied to some 300 registered factories, but pOstii * die report says that there are many other factories ,y of which use asbestos products and which do not come that 'yitliin the regulations. The Ministry of Labour is at , -irely present drawing up new regulations to cover a wider ar.ti range of factories. . ~a;o It was in tho 1920s that it was first clearly recognized i the that asbestosis, a fibrotio condition of tho lungs, is emio caused by occupational exposure to asbestos. Within itely a.imv years it was suggested that tho disease might be complicated by the development of carcinoma of the iOlli.t but an association was not generally accoptcd the until tho 1950s. Recently, there has been concern over i an the occurrence of mesotlielial tumours of tho pleura ' witii on peritoneum which appear to be causally related to e is asbestos exposure in many cases. Since 10G6 meso .'Vets thelioma lias boon a scacdulcd industrial disease. d to Tho advisory panel concludes that there is an :nrh increasing incidence of asbestosis in the country; ` out , l,? twist likely explanation for this ihiimuui is thu ,,.eater uo or asne.ito* and the greater numbers of ` ri'.m, people employed in tho industry over the past 20 , :hts yoa-rs. But the pa.r.c-,1 fiivya tl.r.t "there 18 HOOYiftcnCC j 'ted mat the overall attack rate has decreased in tt.c Indus* I dod trv over this period, although it has in somo textile j mills" in 'which the dust conditions have been greatly "" j NATUHE. VOL. 2 1 7 . JA N U A R Y 13. 1903 improved", Jt app,:rtr,, Unit f (j|f. r,.j,,,jai , widc.y and more stringently applied than at pre.s, r tthhPp number of cases should inevitably fall. ' _Iho panel indicates that crocidoiilc has a so<-c;.' sigmficanen in relation to mc.sothcli.il tumour, ]'' ..^commends tha_aUivL types of fibre shrink! hn TT ^tuicq.toi^cffimdojite wherever possible. and,TiTT , ring la impossible, special precautions should be ;,-TT~ _ to reuucc the risks_of inhaling The inatenlir'i'FT panel adhuislhat at tho~;rhbrnciit'thc TcveTof exnovi-,- below winch the risk may bo negligible is not known. Inc quantity of crocidoiite (blue asbestos') invert/..-- into the country m uch W tiia n the other varieties , '" bestos, and it has remained at about 7 ///; cons per year for tho last few years. But time m.-.v ri.iv that other fibres are also implicated in the devchouicT.r ot mosothciial tumours, 1 Finally, tho report suggests that action shou'ri h- taken to control the discharge of dust-laden air f-,,~ asbestos factories and the dispersal of dust from . It emphasizes, however, that the probV- of mesotheboma in association with asbestos exposure should bo kept in a proper perspective. Even thou the incidence is increasing, the total numLTTTcaTt of mesotheboma in Britain over several year, 6/naU when compared with the annual total n iT -T T jrgm cancers of tho tracirea.'bronchus and kin?. & 6*e*rT trJ A ~ v o * /tir > Recording Weather Ah automatic weather recording station which <-a-i operato unmanned for a f least three months has V-rr produced by the Plessey Company Ltd. This station' which can make and record more than 82,000 measured ments in a three month period, is available from t:- ilarme Systems Division' of the Plesscv Eketromw Group at Ilford. The value of automatic weather stationa was recognized by a recent repo- from the world Meteorological Organization (Mature, 215, 132- ; 1967). _They are important because modern dcvclon! mente m weather forecasting require information about climate from all over the world--sometimes from ur.- inhabited areas---and it is becoming increa.*ir.c.\v hard to persuade amateur meteorplogists to provide accurate data day by day. Professionals cost mor.e'.\ and^so there should be a real market for automat'::- stations which can do the job reliably for Ion? period! without attention. ` The Plessey station-is virtually self-contained r.r.ri con monitor parameters such as rainfall, humid;:-.-, wind epecd and direction, air, soil and water tctr.pora- . turca, barometric pressure, pH, solar radiation and water level and Sow. Tin* basic design was evolved ir. co-operation with tho British Water Resources Board! tho Meteorological Office and the National Physical Laboratory, By adding various instruments to the basic design,'it has been possible to produce a fan;;;-.- of stations including hydrometeorological. climate- logical, water level, water quality and rivr,r:'.i:v? rr.iufn'i: stations. F.aoli can bV* arranged f*>r mil.-n vitir o:: .- KfiUj *tti 11io recorded data can bo sour bv tvh'iA.'irv to a control ccntro on demand. ` * Bach station is supplied as a complete '..'*<--; sensors, recorder, power supply, `Stevenson' #cr.?er!s and a stayed aluminium mast which supnor!- the n-- Tho mtaiory of the #U.t:on tvr.r.-.meii ua to eiul.t sensors in turn, recording their outputs m.tembi: UCC 023541 'VI' V )ti nsts m panning Ui *,_. n1----- . jA s& esfos D u s t C a lle d a H a z a r d : j '! T o a i h e r s t O n e - F o u r t h o f U . S . Study Links Asbestos v To Cancer i - ---------------- _ _ -- i . By Earl Ubell ny jams a nnouY I Asbestos ust, which has al structlon workers and their ready been connected with families. the development at fatal can According to the findings of ter in one-half of asbestos three recent limited studies, the workers, may be a 'potential dangers might extend to the health hazard for one-quarter general population.'The studies,, of the population or more,, it which involved autopsies on) was reported yesterday, 1,100 persons In three cities, j, This preliminary findings was showed that 23 per cent of thelt described by Dr. Irving j . .Sell- people had asbestos lodged In)' koff in announcclng the estab their lungs. :: ' 1 Science Editor Scientists have known for . a long time that asbestos I was bad for your lungs. Now >' ' a study of New York City j workers, both roofers and . I. .insulation blowers, reveals , ' - th a t exposure to the mineral j K`. sends lung-cancer death ' ' I 1. rates skyrocketing. f` ? The figures--gathered by V : J' doctors a t Mount Sinai Hos. . ! | pltal--show that such work- lishment o f an environmental Dr. -Sellkoff explained th a t 1 I ers have eight times the lung- health laboratory a t Mount the studies had used a "crude 1 v cancer death rate as would Sinai Hospital, The laboratory technique'' that disclosed only ' '. 1 be expected In, a non-exposed will further Investigate the those asbestos fibers that had " " . ; , population. dangers to man of asbestos and become coated by an lr'on-rlch material while lodged in the . . More sUprislingly, the stud- i'Other environmental Inants. contami- lungs.-A more refined technique `. ! !es reveal th at such workers Dr. Sellkoff said the link nhoawrbosrhonwosnctohaatet dmaa:sb}esptoerssofnis j run four times the risk of j 'getting cancer In other parts between had led cancer him to and asbestos suspect that bers as well, he said. ! j of the body, frith cancer of other mineral dusts , th at con Now Study Started ' f th e colon particularly singled taminate both urban and rural air might create medical haz Dr. Sclikoff and his col j out. For all other diseases, !'. the Insulation workers have ards for the public. . lheaavgeuesstarattedthae thnreewe-ylaebaor rsattuodryy ' > i the same death rate as the The new laboratory will be In which they will: . rest of the population. headed by Pr. Sellkoff who, ^Examine, with the de . These findings were em with Dr. Jr'- vb Churg, found ceased's family's approval, the ! phasized yesterday by Dr. that asbesti workers eventu lung tissue of the from 3,000 to - : Irving J. Sellkoff, head ' of al! showed to seven times 4,000 persons expected to die in .' Mt. Sinai's Division of Envl- tb normal death, rate from lung the next two years at Mount cancer and three times the nor Sinai, Elmhurst Hospital and ; . ronmental Medicine,' on the mal death rate from cancer of Veterans Hospital in tire Bronx. 1 ' . occasion of the establish m ent of an environmental / the stomach, colon and rectum, The doctors will look for un . . health laboratory In the hos- Ollier Workers Affected coated as well as coated asbes Dr. Sellkoff noted that the tos fibers In the tissues. : ' ' pitaL The laboratory has dangers of exnosure to asbestos ILook for correlations be - . , , received grant* totaling $324, dust were n .mlted to tl >so tween the causes of death and 000 from the United States who work directly with this tire presence of asbestos fibers ' Public Health Service and ubiquitous Insulator and filler in lung tissue. . , , j the New York City Health material. The dangers, he said, ^Determine the occupational -1-' Research Council. extend to workers In `'contigu history of the deceased and their ' Dr. Sellkoff also pointed ous trades,*1 such as other oon- relatives and other pertinent ' i . out th at cigarette smoking background information. ' ! ' ' seems to heighten the effects Asbestos Is a fibrous mineral ` | of the asbestos. Among 130 highly valued for its noncarroslve and long-wearing prop i men exposed to asbestos 20 erties. In addition to its common . years or more who were non use as a fireproof material. Dr. ' ' smokers, he found one lung- Sellkoff said, asbestos makes up cancer-, death, among 310 about SO per cent of asphalt ' ; ' smokers, 21 such deaths. tile and Is used in dental cement, ' . . brake linings, plastics, beer fil ters, gas masks and paper. Until last year, son*; schools used asbestos dust Instead of -sand for children to play In. / . UCC 023542