Document REnqaEeKYazJeJKrNxrXLGBv

FILE NAME: DuPont (DUP) DATE: 0000 DOC#: DUP069 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Barry Castleman Notes on Journal of Industrial Medicine References to DuPont I have just spent two days going carefully through so far 4 old volumes of Industrial Medicine in the Hopkins medical library and have found these things on DuPont: 1. DuP Med Dir George Gehrmann's presentation "Industrial Medicine and Toxicology" shows sophisticated awareness of the ways toxic substances kill people. He refers to silicosis as "chronic, progressive, and incurable". (5:204,1936) 2. At a symposium at Harvard later in 1936, DuP's Dr. Foulger spoke on a program with others including Drinker and Clark who discussed asbestosis. (5: 550,1936) 3. In 1938, the National Association of Manufacturers set up a select committee of company medical men, and one of those included was Dr. Gehrmann. Others were Hazlett (Westinghouse), Shoudy (Beth Steel), Selby (Gen. Motors, and McConnell (Met Life). 4. In 1939, McConnell listed the non-governmental programs in occupational health. The 5 "employers" noted were "duPont, Union Carbide and Carbon, Chrysler, General Motors, and Westinghouse." (8: 70,1939) It is fair to conclude from this that DuPont was a leading industrial firm in occupational health, that DuPont doctors, including Foulger at the chemical company's Haskell Laboratory for toxicology and industrial medicine, were aware that asbestos was a dangerous dust in the 1930s. DuPont officials were regular speakers at professional gatherings, and the company's leaders and program in this field were accorded the highest recognition by their peers in industry in the late 1930s. Barry Castleman, Sc.D. bcastle@mail.bcpl. lib.md.us Note New Address: 2412 Pickwick Rd., Baltimore MD 21207 USA tel. 410-448-2648 fax 410-448-2368