Document KJ4O5D3GOYBKpZYL254Bm83pQ

FILE NAME Colonial Sugar Refinery CSR DATE 1960 & 1961 DOC CSR089 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Letters Discussing Medical Records of Workers Employed by Australian Blue Asbestos with Silicosis & Asbestosis & Company Response to Dust Problem H. MAYNARD renNIE we FR.C.F. Lowb.1 F.R.A.C.PF.R.A..C.P. - _ EPHONE BW 7711 LAFTER 4 P.M. XL 2540 MACQUARIE CHAMBERS 183 Macquarie StreET SYDNEY 30th October 1961 Department of Public Box 134. G.P.O. PERTH W.A. Health Dear Dr. Letham Thank you for your letter of the 2nd October 1961 concerning the employee i _ . =scsI have perused his history with great interest and also looked at the slides which I return herewith as you requested Thank you for letting me see them I have been in touch with the Company again a few days ago and I am informed that a conference was held with the Mines Department in were Perth a Mr. Thomas of AUD Blue Asbestos a mining engineer and an ex manager at Wittenoom present The Company has now made arrangements to take regular dust samples and make counts on the konimeter and this will be done regularly in order to give a series of readings under varying conditions Samples of dust have also been sent to ventilatory engineers in United States of America seeking their comments on dust counting particularly in relation to asbestos The Company will also be very pleased indeed to receive from medical sources advice on what is regarded as safe dust count levels It will then be possible to compare such recommendations with actual findings over a period of a few months It will then be possible to determine whether further action is necessary In the meantime I am continuing my enquiries along the lines of securing this information and I shall be most happy to receive from you any comments or advice that you may have at present or are able to procure This seems to me to be the sort of action that circumstances and I hope that you agree If not I interested to hear your further suggestions is desired in will be most the I am sending a copy of this letter to Dr. Bruce Hunt and Dr.McNulty Kind regards Yours sincerely Jay - J. PLAINTIFF'S , EXHIBITEXHIBIT . an JUCH FG DISTRICT HOSPITAL 4\ Me ABA om KALGOORLIE KALGOORLIE KALGOORLIE KALGOORLIE ^' ccc ABA Oe ABA Date 25th October 1961 __ Dr. H. Maynure Rennie .... .... Lond F.R Macquarie Chambers 183cquarie 183cquarie Street | SYDNEY ... C.P Dear Dr. Rennie Many thanks for your letter and for your interest in the health of workers employed by Australian Blue Asbestos at a meeting in Perth recently between representatives of the Company and Mines and Public Health Department we discussed the situation and it is to be hoped that there is now a better appreciation of the seriousness of the consequences of dust in the mine and mill men was able to details of seriously affected by a mixture of asbestosis und silicosis whose disease could reasonably be attributed to Wittenoom One of them is dead already and at least 3 are dying There are also 22 men in whom there are reasonable grounds for sus- pecting that they are developing disease The an who died was aged 48 and worked about 2 years in the mill Post mortem showed gross asbestosis and silicosis and 2 malignant cancer of the pleural directly attributable to his work in ittenson I am seriously concerned that these cance *s of the pleura which are being reported in large nachers ro Nouth Africa are due to an individual susceptibility and minimal exposure to blue asbestos Crocidolite Crysolite speure to cause lung cancers 15 had less than 5 years mining 3 ... ve Ca 6 cs] a 5 OJ " 7 ad " 2 11 a 8 a " 11 ubat 10 or ore years mining PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT 103530 103530 ion DDL 5th December 1960 Dr. Alan Bell Director Division of Occupational Health Box 31 George Street Nth P.O. SYDNEY N.S.W. Dear Dr. Bell Asbestos Dust Counts Thank you for the answer to my query However one part of the letter still remains unanswered and that is how do you estimate the asbestos content of a sample of dust The point I was trying to make in my previous letter was that for given concentrations of silica upper limits of a dust count are designated As far as I can ascertain no comparable figures have been worked out for asbestos - Can you give me a lead then as to how the asbestos content of a dust sample can be ascertained Is there any known method during a dust count of distinguishing asbestos fibres from other dust particles Yours faithfully D.D. Letham PHYSICIAN DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT HEALTH 2 ees en tm ee PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT 103420