Document KG0xwkb48bQ7M31eRoEgBMNk6

FILE NAME: RT Vanderbilt (RTV) DATE: 1973 July 19 DOC#: RTV206 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Letters to Government Entities Concerning Talc Design 1966 Da v is , G iL o u n r, Dbvxke ScS chw a rtz lion, John St coder 7- Ju ly 19, 1973 ntnndards were never intended to cover the m anufacturing of p a i n t s o r c o a tin g s when com m ercial o r i n d u s t r i a l t a l c 3s u sed as cn i n g r e d i e n t . 11 `vis i;us ir.cnc even clearer oy u io HvXrcHHenTtal yroi.ucxJ.on A d m in is tra tio n i n i t s l e t t e r o f Ju n e SO, 1973 to Mr; A lle n Harvey o f H. T. V a n d e rb ilt Company, I n c , (atta c h e d h e re to as E x h ib it 1 0 ), w herein i t was s ta te d th a t th e -a sb e sto s s ta n d a rd s go n o t a p p ly t o any m a n u fa c tu rin g p r o c e s s e s t h a t u se com m ercial o r in d u stry a l ',:talc-''-a'S' sn i n h r e l e n t v '. *? v> (oj-p n asis c c c J e o j,1 a la AQminX-Straoipit c o n s e - q u e n ijy p ia n o t o mend i t 3 r e g u la tio n s to wake t h i s clear. From th e f o r e j o i n s , we b e lie v e i t obvious t h a t th e g r a n ti n g o f the proposed m odification w ill not have adverse en v iro n m ental im pact. - , -* C o n clu sio n , * F o r e l l o f th e fo re g o in g re a so n s, we su b m it' t h a t the inclusion of non-asbestiforn tre to lite in the asbestos standard i s cn e r r o r, which e r r o r should be c o rre c te d . Ac557!rir<2*yi v c r e q u e s t th at T a b le G--3 sin* th e a s b e s to s Btuii-iurti b e uiaenucu as we have proposed, in A ppendix 1 . n e ith e r th e s a fe ty n o r th e h e a lth of th e American w orker k i l l be a d v e rs e ly a ffe c te d by such amendment, w hich amendment w ill e ffe c tiv e ly , p reserv e the*"Jobs and livelihoods* o f thousands, Fhotov.icrographic Study - 3 copies Appendix 3- - 6 c o p ie s Appendix k - 6 coiiies Photos o f s lid e s accompanying Appendix H - 2 copies Appendix $ - 6 co p ies Appendix 6 - 6 co p ies Annendix 7 - 6 co p ies 3 196*7 12 - Letter from Vanderbilt Dir. Research & Development to Asst. Dir. Healln & Safety, U.S. Bureau of Mines, dated March 23,1972 (Pages 1967-1968) nx.. m u is j H . <- V A N O ER BU .T CO M PA N Y . INC. 3 3 W lM rieLS S T ite eT cast KO(tw*LK,eONNtC"tcuT oeaas March 23, 1972 He. 5 . M. J a r r e t t A ssistan t D irecto r H ealth and S afety 0. S. Bureau o f Mines 4015 W ilson B o u lev ard A rlington, V irg in ia Dear Mr, J a r r e t t * *Mr* M cCarthy. J n d X a p p r e c i a t e d t h e t i n e you and y o u r s t a f f gave us " la s t T uesday in W ashington, T his l e t t e r w ill b r ie f ly review our conversation o u tlin in g our problem s concerning tre m o lite in our ta lc products. Recent re g u la tio n s and proposed le g is la tio n and re g u la tio n s con cerning p re ca u tio n s and stan d ard s fo r handling o f asbestos-have included trem o lite as an "a sb esto s" m ineral and have subjected tre m o lite to th e same r e s t r i c t i o n s as th o se in fo rc e and p ro posed f o r a s b e s t o s . F u r t h e r , i n t h e p ro p o se d 05KA a s b e s t o s re g u la tio n s , th e t o t a l am ount.of a sb e sto s- (and th e re fo re tre m o lite ) i n a p ro d u c t i s l i m i t e d t o 5% beyond w hich p r e c a u t i o n a r y l a b e l i n g would b e m andatory, We a re n o t i n a c c o r d w ith d e f i n i n g t r e m o l i t e a s an a s b e s t o s m ineral. And, have p re lim in a ry s c ie n tif ic d a ta to prove our p o in t. B a sic a lly a'sbestoa i s d e fin e d by th e in d u s try -- and indeed by m ost a u t h o r i t i e s -- a s a h y d ra te d magnesium aluminum s ilic a te w ith a th read lifcp ^fo ra, o f high te n s ile stre n g th , cap ab le o f b e in g woven. Wy know from o u r i n v e s ti g a ti o n s u t i l i z i n g modern s c i e n t i f i c technii^Sfes sych. a s th e e le c tr o n m icro sco p e t h a t th e t r e m o l i t e we f i n d i r 10*15, o r e s c o n s i s t s o f a m ix tu re o f nodules, ro d s, p la te s and n e e d le s, The tre m o lite even in the needle form i s n o t s o f t , th r e a d lik e , o f h ig h t e n s i l e s tre n g th b u t r a th e r i s b r i t t l e , f r a g i l e , and o f low t e n s il e s tre n g th . We do con ced e t h a t u n d e r low m a g n i f i c a ti o n s t h e n e e d l e s o c c a s io n a lly a p p e a r to* b e f ib r o u s b u t in m a g n if ic a tio n s o f from 1200 to 7000, the a p p a re n tly f ib e r lifc s tr e m o lite i s seen to be actually c ry s ta llin e . We a5&_na__aware o f any m e d ic a l e v id e n c e w h ich i n d i c a t e s t h a t u re m o lite p e r 537 h a s c a u s e d a s b s s t o s i s o r c a n c e r . 001368 <^7 VANOERSfLT COMPANY, JNC, 1968 Hr. S. H. J a r r e t t 2 March 23, 1972 A t th e m eeting: o f th e A d v is o ry C om m ittee t o GSHA on t h e q u e s t i o n o f a s b e s to s , w t know t h a t one member o f t h a t com m ittee c h a lle n g e d th a in c lu s io n * -o f fc re m o lite a s an a s h e s t if o r m m in e r a l . We c o n c u r w ith th is c h a lle n g e , lie f e e l th a t th e c la s s if ic a tio n o f tre m o l!ta as a form o f a s b e s to s i s SilBpIy a h o ld o v e r o f m in e ra lo g ic a l i n f o r m ation and d e f i n i t i o n b a se d on m ethodology w hich i s now o u t o f d a te and w hich has b een r e p la c e d by new m ethods such a s th e e le c t r o n m icroscope. W eisubmit t h a t th e h a s ty in c lu s io n o f tre m o lite as an a s b e s tifo rm m ineral in to the asb esto s re g u la tio n s is w ith o u t foundation and can and w i l l damage o u r b u s i *sg "pA t h a h n s l n n s s s s p f any o t h e r p ro d u cer o f r a lc s contAUTing tr e m o lite . In view o f th e above and in o rd e r to s c i e n t i f i c a l l y d eterm in e th e tpe nature o f tre m o lite and o th er so -c a lle d "asbestiform " m in e rals, we r e q u e s t t h e B u re au t o i n i t i a t e s c i e n f i f l a . s t u d i e s t o c l a r i f y and aeterm ine p re c ise ly th e m in e ralo g ica l d iffe re n c e s in th e se m in e ra ls, fe e l th a t such a study w ill be of b e n e fit to the ta lc and .jtbbestos in d u s trie s and w ould provide a number o f Government ag en cies, a sid e from th e B ureau o f M ines, w ith d e f in itiv e s c ie n t i f i c d a ta on which to b ase d e c isio n s a f fe c tin g thousands o f w orkers jobs and ten s o f m illio n s o f d o lla r s o f th e American economy. 'A " Our Company (and a lm o s t c e r t a i n l y o t h e r t a l c p r o d u c e rs ) w i l l c o o p erate in every way p o s s ib le w ith th e B ureau on such a s tu d y . Xf fa v o ra b le c o n s i d e r a t i o n i s g iv e n t o t h i s r e q u e s t , we w i l l b e glad to e la b o ra ta on t h is l e t t e r a t a n o th e r m eeting w ith you a t your convenience. Sincerely yours, R- T. VANDERBILT COMPANY, INC R. C. B acon, D i r e c t o r Research t Development D iv isio n RCBimjh ' : ` ....... CC: D r , A u r e l G o o d w in H r. P e te r M cC arthy, I n t e r n a t i o n a l T a lc Company Mr. H. B. V a n d e r b ilt 1969 13 - Letter from Attoiney for Vanderbilt and Subsidiaries to Hearing Clerk. Dept. Health V Education. & Welfare, dated October 5 , 1972*(Pages 1969-1971) tGSW T*''1" 0 Da v is, Gil b e r t . Le v il e & Scitwartz pT," a S^**tx F*ntrei* ttT*r T * * s d o u A. K jic n u x PPiutittuBr.5O-iB*wi**T. J. --,ii ?Ron L. GQi*LCu1*rr j So u ik q w p F t e n * ' Miirn* S- Scirvjtim Hit* a** A u * D. K * o t i SKtluCuRcAttScc. OFtrniiidkl* 600 tur* Vo*, it. y. oea* . Hb-XKOP. Prc, C*ui t e n *UiT**0lt Aw*t*+C-0o*d0*0j O ctober 5 1972 H earing C lerk HOUCi Pear S ir: 5'J,- Ve a r e a t t o r n e y s f o r R. T . V a n d e r b i l t Com pany, I n c . an d i t a s u b s i d i a r i e s , G o u v e rn eu r T a lc C om pany,I n c . and W e s te rn T a lc Company, I n c . , w ith o f f i c e s a t 230 P a rk A venue, Hew Y o rk , H, Y \, and fo r In te rn a tio n a l T alc C o., I n c ., a c o rp o ra tio n w ith o ffic e s a t t2 0 L e x in g to n A venue, Hew Y ork, H. Y. V a n d e r b i l t and In te rn a tio n a l a re u n re la te d to one a n o th e r.1 Each o f the a fo re s a id companies i s a m iner and p ro d u cer o f t a l c . R e fere n ce i s made to th e " P ro p o sa l R e g ard in g R e g u la tio n o f P r i o r - S a n c t i o n e d Food I n g r e d i e n t s " (21 CFR P a r t 1 2 1 ) , p u b l is h e d in th e F e d e ral R e g is te r o f August 12, 1972 (37 F .R , 16K07). Our c lie n ts have noted w ith g re at in te r e s t th e p ro p o sal to ban ta lc "c o n ta in in g a sb e sto s-fo rm p a r t i c l e s " from food packaging. We n o te from t h e S e p te m b e r 2 2 , 1972 l e t t e r o f t h e D i r e c t o r o f th e O ffic e o f P ro d u ct T echnology to Hr, P. P. M cCarthy t h a t th e a fo re s a id p ro p o sa l i s d ire c te d a g a in st fib ro u s form s which d is tin g u is h asb esto s.fro m ta lc . Talc produced in th e U nited S ta te s g e n e ra lly co n tain s tre m o lite , and th is m ineral has too often been c la s s ifie d w ith a sb e sto s, w hich is tr u ly a fib ro u s m a te ria l, Our c lie n ts w ish to e s ta b lis h , n o t o n ly fo r th e b e n e f it o f the Food and Drug A d m in is tra tio n , b u t a lso fo r the b e n e fit o f o th er fe d e ra l agencies a sse rtin g ju ris d ic tio n on th e g e n era l q u e stio n o f a s b e s to s , t h a t th e tre m o lite c o n ta in e d i n t a l c seldom o c cu rs in a f ib r o u s form . Assuming th e establishm ent of th is fa c t to your s a tis fa c tio n , non-fibrous tre m o litic ta lc s should th ere fo re be w ithout the fie ld of your concern. F u rth erm o re, i t seems th a t th e re e x is ts a g re a t d e a l o f confusion^ over the n in era u o g ic a i natu res of tru e asbestos and o th er air.era-s oaioai