Document K6yp4kVvXEVNxNMX9L7XNwExN

FILE NAME: Asten Hill (AH) DATE: 1955 DOC#: AH018 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Meeting Minutes fpLNAt:^ / , * " r.. O ctober 17, 1?55 l-m m izs OF THE ASBESTOS TEXTILE INSTITUTE AIR HIGIEiiE CCMHITTZE MEETING ZN ATTENDANCE HERE: S eptem ber 7 195$ _ D,, R,, Koines J,, Vi. Weber R, C. Smith H, iu Jackson ........ . ______ ____ The A ir Hygiene Committee was m ost p le a se d to have as i t s g u ests re p re s e n ta tiv e s o f th e Quebec lining A sso c ia tio n - D r. P aul 0a r t i e r , H r. xvan Sabourin end H r, M au rice La Chance, M r. S a b o u rin , g e n e r a l c o u n s e l T o r th e QA-uA. t o l d o f th e h i s t o r y end fu nction, o f t h a t a s s o c ia tio n . The Quebec A sbestos M ining A sso c ia tio n has been o p eratin g f o r a tp ra x irn a te ly 20 y e a rs , and i t s membership re p re s e n ts approxim ately 65of th e wor i d s u p p ly o f a s b e s to s f i b r e . As an in d u s tr y a s s o c i a t i o n , i t f u n c tio n s q u it e s im ila rly to th e A sbestos T e x tile I n s titu te , C onsiderable a tte n tio n i s given the h e a l t h p ro b lem s o f th e i n d u s t r y e- There a re tiro m e d ic a l c l i n i c s ; one a t A sb e sto s, th e o th er a t T hetford, both f u lly s ta ffe d and w ith com plete h o s p ita l f a c i l i t i e s , ?re-em ploym ent and p e rio d ic h e a lth exam inations are provided fo r a l l w orkers. S a f e t y e n g in e e r in g s e r v ic e s have been p ro v id e d by th e A s s o c ia tio n to i t s members f o r a number o f y e a rs , 'ore re c e n tly , an in d u s tr ia l hygiene engineer has been a d d e d to i t s s t a f f . As a r e s u l t o f th e in d u s tr y em phasis on h e a l t h , s a f e t y and d u s t c o n tr o l f o r th e p a s t te n y e a rs , th e re a r e p r a c t i c a l l y no new cases o f a s b e s t o s i s o th e r th a n th o se w ith tw en ty o r more y e a rs ex p o su re, r. S ab o u rin s ta te d th a t the p re se n t m ajor h e a lth problems of th e in d u stry p e rta in e d to the re la tio n sh ip of h e a rt-d iffic u ltie s and cancer to asbestos exposure. B r. Paul C a rtie r to ld of the operation of th e Thetford C lin ic. E stablished in 19U$, th e C lin ic provides h e a lth se rv ic e s to th e T hetford peo p le, Pre-em ploym ent. and p e rio d ic annual exam inations in c lu d e an X -ray and e le c tro ca rd iag raia, as w ell a s -the o th e r 'usual- ex am in a tio n f e a t u r e s . Commenting on th e o ccu rren ce o f a s b e s to s is , D r. C a r tie r in d ic a te d th a t a f t e r te n y e a r s e x p o s u re , ab o u t 5C would have some h i s t o l o g i c a l e v id en ce o f a s b e s to s is (m in im al t i s s u e changes n o t s u f f i c i e n t t o be o b serv ed on th e X - r a y ) , 10$2 would h av e seme r a d i o l o g i c a l e v id e n c e and 2% m ig h t have some cl i n i c a l ev id en ce o f d is a b i lit y from a s b e s to s is ,' In re fe re n c e to the pulmonary cancer experience in th e th a t in th e ten years of the c lin ic 's operation, there can c er o b serv ed . Nine o f th e se on au topsy showed sene a s b e s t o s i s . I n s i x , how ever, th e re was no ev id en ce o f ence w ould i n d i c a t e a v e ry much low er a tta c k r a t e th a n B ritish experience of 13. in d u stry , Dr. C a rtie r stated have been fifte e n cases of h is to lo g ic a l evidence of a s b e s to s is , ThiB e x p e ri th a t re p o rte d from the rr Minutes o f A ir Hygiene Committee -2- October 17, 1955 A utopsy s tu d y i s made o f e v e ry o c c u p a tio n a l d is e a s e claim c a s e , and as many o th e r as p o s s i b l e . D r. C a r t i e r s t a t e d t h a t t h i s vas o f u tm o st im p o rtan ce n o t only i n d eterm in in g th e e x te n t o f l i a b i l i t y , b u t a lso in in c re a s in g th e knowledge o f the d is e a s e p ro c e s s . The c l i n i c h as n o t done any work vrith in te r m itte n t, p o s itiv e p r e s s u r e b r e a th in g , a lth o u g h sen e u se o f c o r tis o n e i s b e in g made. The ex perience to d a te , however, has been in s u f f ic ie n t to ju s tif y any conclusions. D r. C a rtie r expressed the opinion th a t considerable research must be ccne in the f ie ld s of cancer and h e a r t to d e fin e more c le a r ly th e r o le , i f any, played by in halation of asbestos. Hr, M aurice La Chance to ld of th e experience i n d u st c o n tro l i n the mines and m ills o f th e A s s o c ia tio n members. Annual d u s t su rv ey s a re made a t elev en mines and re p o rts su b m itted to e a c h . The s ta n d a rd D. S . Bureau of lines technique i s used fo r surveying vath. th e m idget im pingar. F or f ib r e ev a lu a tio n , the d e fin itio n of the le n g th b e in g th re e tim es th e w idth i s a p p lie d , id '. La Chance s ta te d th a t sin e s th e program was in a u g u ra te d i n 15*1:6, th e av era g e d u s t c o n c e n tra tio n s have been reduced 5C2. In g e n e ra l, th e f ib r e c o n te n t o f th e t o t a l d u st count ranged from 12 to 122. I n h is o p in io n , th e m ost e f f e c t iv e d u s t c o l le c t o r system to date i s the bag type wheelafcrator u n it, John U eber re p o rte d an th e bag dumping u n it now in o p e ra tio n i n h is p la n t. Photo graphs w ere shovoi and John in d ic a te d t h a t f u l l d e t a i l s may be o b ta in e d from th e V.'ilkra Company, 71 Denton Avenue, Hew Hyde F ar!:, Long I s la n d , il. Y. A lthough d u st counts have n o t y e t been taken, v is u a l o b serv atio n in d ic a te s complete con t r o l o f t h i s u s u a ll y d u s ty o p e r a t io n . The u n i t has n o t b een i n o p e ra tio n s u f f i c i e n t l y long to e s tim a te th e m aintenance and o p e ra tin g c o s t. The shaking cycle i s le s s th an one m inute p er bag, and Jolin in d ic a te d t h a t th e bags were shaken co n sid erab ly c le a n e r th an by the hand method. A g e n e ra l d is c u s s io n o f f i b r e co n d itio n in g a g e n ts was h e ld , and i t was suggested t h a t th e ex p e rie n c e o f our a s s o c ia te members m ight be o f v a lu e to th e te c h n ic a l com m ittee w hich i s f u r t h e r i n v e s t i g a t i n g t h i s problem , w'e h e re w ith ex tend an i n v i t a t i o n to each a s s o c ia t e member to fo rw ard a summary o f i t s ex p erien ce w ith f ib r e co n d itio n in g es a means of p rev en tin g d u st c o n tro l. H. ii. Jackson Chairman A ir Hygiene Committee All) 0 0 2 7 56