Document KzE6MzyerZ9dk836Va8vDrzbo
PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT
UC-3568
1009
Letters
silica. Smith i personal communica tion) used chrysotile from Arizona
prepared by the Badollet and Gantt
TlWSH^^^Wegnanc^^Therapeutic abortion is the only means present ly available to prevent the birth of
method to produce mesotheliomas abnormal infants, and this is not
in hamsters.
legally condoned in most states.
We obtained similar results with
One of the major problems in
pure chrysotile in mice.1 These establishing laws regarding abortion
.Smoking ;uid the Coitm.il v Arteries
findings indicate that asbestos in its various forms can cause meso thelioma in both animals and man.
in instances where the infant may
be born abnormal is determining the risk of abnormality. A numlier
7\> the Editor: -- Dr. Seltzer's
The letter also States Wagner's1 of studies have 'teen reported in
thoughtful and well-documented re- > findings that the "time lag between J which the risk of congenital abnor
view of "Smoking and Coronary I last exposure and tumor formation | malities of infants bom to women
Heart Disease" (203:193, 19681 was always long, averaging 40 to with clinical rubella in the first tri
rmkes no reference (o personality [ 50 years." However, Kleinfeid5 et al j mester varies considerably, largely
fat tors, Perhaps there are no re- j reported the average years from I depending on whether the study
-earch data about personality dif- j onset of exposure to death was 29.5 1 was conducted during epidemic or
ferenees of the cigarette smoker in years with a range of 15 to 40 j nonepidemic years. Since etiologic
contrast to the pipe or cigar smoker, years. Our patient, a chrysotile agents other than rubella can pro
but popular attitudes generally sug worker, died 23 years after the first duce illnesses resembling rubella,
gest that the pipe or cigar smoker is more phlegmatic and less likely to suffer from tension states. A
three-year exposure. Another 'pa tient we have seen died of meso thelioma after 15 years of contin
it is likely that the risk figures re ported in the past for congenital rubella are low. Current reports
striking difference in the incidence uous exposure. We have also seen emphasize that the etiologic role of
of coronary disease is found be tween the two groups. Apparently the Surgeon General's Advisory
a young man who died of acute pulmonary edema after a short pe riod of work which entailed blow
in utero rubella infections in cataracts (203:632, 1968) and deaf ness1 is greater than previously rec
Committee on Smoking and Health iquoted by Dr. Seltzer) in its list of predisposing factors mentioned only "occupations involving--stress" and ignored individual personality factors basic to psychomatic dis
ing asbestos insulating material into house walls without wearing a mask.
We think that inhalation of as bestos fibers in any of its various forms--crocidolite, chrysotile, amo
ognized. In a study described re cently in The Journal (203.-627, 1968), we have attempted to es tablish the risk of fetal infection by the use of new laboratory proce dures. Twelve women with clinical
turbances, which may predispose site, or tremolite--carries a certain rubella in the-first trimester of preg
to coronary heart disease.
Bvnatn S. Lacy. J*., MT> M*nhaltnn, Kin
risk and should be avoided. Melvin C. Goowjn, MD
George Jagatic. MO
Ill
nancy were studied and were proven by laboratory means to have been infected with the virus. Therapeutic
abortion was performed in ten in
Asbestos and Mesothelioma
1. Owen, G.W.:
Turnon And Ex
posure to Axbevton Dufit, Ann NY Acnd Set 132:
*74-684. 1965.
stances, and nine of the ten fetuses were found to be infected with the
To the Editor:--A recent letter (203:1142, 1968) states that the
2. Winner, J. C , end Skidmore, J.W.; A*-
beslcm Dust Deposition and Retention in Rets. Ann NY Acad Sci IttiTT-86. 1<*S.
virus. Two women elected not to have their pregnancies interrupted.
problem of mesothelioma formation
4. Jugal*?. J., et *1: Tissue Response fa> Intra* Both of these women delivered in
is "not one that involves the whole
peritoneal Axbeatos With Preliminary Report of Acute Tonicity ofAffl*tftos in Mice. Euvtmn Re*
fants which appeared normal at
asbestos industry, but only users to be published*
birth. Since the time the paper was
of crocidolite, and this mineral rep resents a relatively small proportion
4. Wagner, J.C.: Proceedings of the Pneu/noconinria Conference. Johonneaburg. A. J. Arenslein led.) f^ondon: J. & A. Churchill, Ltd..
written, six months have elapsed, and during this interval both infante
of total consumption. It has been shown' that mesothelioma occurs in
]<!. 5 Kleinfeid, M.; Me*ite, J.; and Koojmen.
O-: Mortality Experience in a Group of Asbeetoa
have developed stigmata of intra uterine rubella infection. In addi
workers exposed to chrysotile ex Workeis, Arch Environ Health 15:117-180 I Aug) tion, another woman who experi
tensively mined in Canada. We I9S7.
enced rubella in the first trimester
have seen mesothelioma formation
in workers weaving brake lining, Intrauterine Rubella
has come under our observation; upon termination of the pregnancy,
which is made from chrysotile. Ex Transmission
the fetus from this woman was in
posure was three years as a young
fected with the virus. Thus, in lab-
adult, and death was caused by a To the Editor:--Tha. recent articles oratory-proven maternal rubella,
peritoneal mesothelioma at 43. An by E. B. Buynak et al (204:195, the incidence of fetal infection ex
other case was a 50-year-old man 1968) and others'-' demonstrating I ceeds 92% (12 of 13 cases studied),
who worked in a Canadian asbestos the feasibility of attenuating rubel- I and malformations occur in a high
mine five years and who died of la virus in a manner acceptable for I percent of the fetuses infected in
pleural mesothelioma 15 years after vaccine use provides great expecta- ! the first trimester.
the first exposure. Analysis of tissue tion that this disease will soon be j Although abortion for rubella is
by x-ray diffraction indicated that controlled. Unfortunately, during ! not legal in most states, it is quite
chrysptile was the only form of as the time required to produce suffi obvious that it is being performed
bestos present. Wagner and Skid cient immunity in the population, widely. Siegel et al' in a seven year
more' induced mesotheliomas in many women and their physicians prospective study of maternal ru
the pleura of rats that inhaled will be faced with the problem of bella in New York City reported
chrysotile, crocidoiite, amosite, and rubella occurring in the first tri- 331 therapeutic abortions in 763
'AMA, June 10, 1968 o Vol 204, No 11
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