Document RpZbn6YExB5X4pbnkLxONnEK8

FILE NAME Manville JMA DATE 1967 - 1968 DOC JMA053 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Asbestos Research Transite Pipe Drinking Water Controversy - Letters Media Articles & Report --" Environmental Control Department Research & Engineering Center March 20 1968 Water Contamination Studies Asbestos Pipe Cement | On Wednesday March 20 Chief of the Basic Data I received a telephone Section Environmental call from Mr. Ronald F. Coene Health Studies U.S.P.H.S. Mr. Coene had two reasons for calling tae 1 Senator Baker of Tennessee hadas adb dre ess set d oa sletptiepre otfo ithnequUi.rSy.P.H.S. concerning health hazards of data for Senator Baker The data he Mr. Coene was obtaining required related to government purchase specifications for asbestos pipe I referred him to J. P. Baker and contacted - { 4 Mr. Baker to discuss the situation with him prior to his being : i contacted by Mr. Coene am i works therefore very closely with Mr. McCabe and .: i 2 Mr. Coene apparently water contamination studies he was interested in progress of our terms on our pronged study I told I briefed him in general available from the Manville- him meaningful data probably would not be until mid- to i Bound Brook comparison and the community water studies April I further indicated that I thought data from our new until summer He was interested test stand would not be available that we had obtained from in results to date so I gave himHneumabpeprasrently was impressed with the our Globe Arizona water study of fiber we were finding I suggested that when mwienuhtaed qfuiannatlitrieessults we contact U.S.P.H.S. and they come to the for a discussion with perhaps F. L. Pundsack Research Center S. Speil myself and others I think this would be better than trying to transmit our findings by letter x " questions please call me E. M. Fenner j i EMF ems 3 t CC J. F. Baker - GHQ i H F. L. Pundsack S. Speil t J. H. Swensen File C oe) Environmental Control Department Research & Engineering Center April 2 1968 W. P. Raines - GHQ Water Contamination Studies On Tuesday March 26 1968 Mr. Jeremiah P. Lynch Assistant Chief Environmental Activities United States Public Health Service met at the Research and Engineering Center with J. P. Leineweber and me to review the techniques we were using in determining asbestos fiber : content in water samples Previously the U.S.P.H.S. had water contamination studies as planned a basis to use the results from our for their determination of the health hazard from ingested asbestos fiber Mr. Lynch informed us that because of additional governmental request fosr information studies We U.S.P.H.S. will use their results in their health determinations rather than ours After the review of our ; techniques Mr. Lynch expressed an opinion they would not completely follow our procedures but would probably develop their own He did not indicate what these procedures would be I still plan meet with us and 2 of our to invite two or three people from the U.S.P.H.S. to at the Research Center to review results from Phase 1 fi study This review will take place in mid- to April EMF ems Cc Cc ) F. . J. HSwensen File - - C ~ E. M. Fenner fi o>? HOWARD H. BAKER JR TENNESSEE tar 6/18 ue e e 6/18 Wlnited States Senate . Nashville Transate April 1 1953Transate - Mr. James J. La Penna Councilman Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County 205 Courthouse Nashville Tennessee Dear Mr. La Ponna Enclosed is the letter I received from the regarding Public Health Service the use of regarding asbestos pipe by thegovernment I hope Mr. Everts letter will adequately answer the questions you have raised but . don't hesitate to call on me if you need * additional information Sincerely a Howard H. Baker Jr. HHBJr Enclosure . - K. R. Augst Frank Griffin William R. Willis Jr. ty DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH EDUCATION AND WELFARE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE NATIONAL CENTER FOR URBAN AND INDUSTRIAL HEALTH 222 EAST CENTRAL PARKWAY PARKWAY CINCINNATI CINCINNATI OHIO 45202 . REFER TO March 26 1968 Honorable Howard H. Baker United States Senate Washington D.C. 20510 Jr. Dear Mr. Baker Reference is made to the inquiry you received from Councilman James J. LaPenna of Nashville concerning the use of asbestos pipe by the Federal Government and the question relating to a health hazard through its use The Federal Government has had a specification for asbestos pipe since 1940. It was designated as 351 revised in 1953 and is now designated as 351a We understand from the General Services Administration who is responsible for keeping this specification current that the 1953 specification is presently being revised and will become effective sometime in April or May of this year and will be assigned number 35lb All agencies of the Government are required to use this specifica- tion purchasing asbestos pipe The Public Health Service has in the past and is continuing to purchase asbestos pipe for use its Indian Health its Program in bid documents referring to this specification The question of a health hazard resulting from the use of asbestos- cement pipe in water distribution systems has arisen as Mr. LaPenna has stated There have been no specific studies of this problem . The health hazards of asbestos in occupational exposures in years past have been high and health effects noted Current practices have markedly reduced these industrial exposures Exposure to the public of asbestos from water pipe would be relatively slight but we have undertaken a small project to document the extent of this exposure We will be most happy to keep you informed of the results of this study Sincerely yours M. Li Sentral Curtiss M. Everts Chief Water Supply and Sea Program Resources -_ oe as rnees ons PY _ on ) February 26 1968 Mr. Charles F. Barber Executive Vice President American Smelting and Refining 120 Broadway New York N. Y. 10005 Company Dear Chuck Attached is a copy of a letter from Dr. Irving J. Selikoff which presents the same point of view that Dr. Selikoff expressed in ber 7. This his letter to Dr. Bistowish of Nashville last Decem- letter is certainly more positive than negative for our Dr. cause and seems to take the wind out of Snell's sails since Dr. Snell used the Vanderbilt University's previous writings of Dr. Selikoff in making his original allegations We are now proceeding full steam with the position paper on asbestos pipe A due date of March 15 has been placed on this position paper Also enclosed are some reproductions of newspaper clippings in connection with an appearance of Mr. J. Baker of JohnsManville before the Metro Health Board of Nashville and an additional appearance before the Metro Councilmen this I repeat that as agreed at our meeting information is to be kept strictly on a top on January 3 executive level It is definitely not to be distributed to the field It is with this understanding that the attachments are sent to you Sincerely yours HMB LH -- Encs . CC F. J. Solon Jr. -- i February 26 1968 Mr. Gene G. Curry Secretary Flintkote Company 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York N. Y. 10020 Dear Gene Attached is a copy of a letter from Dr. Irving J. Selikoff which presents the same point of view that Dr. Selikoff expressed in ber 7. This his letter to Dr. Bistowish of Nashville last Decem- letter is certainly more positive than negative for our cause and seems to take the wind out of Vanderbilt University's Dr. Snell's sails since Dr. Snell used the previous writings of Dr. Selikoff in making his original allegations We are now proceeding full steam with the position paper on asbestos pipe A due date of March 15 has been placed . on this position paper Also enclosed are some reproductions of newspaper clip- pings in connection with an appearance of Mr. J. Baker of JohnsManville before the Metro Health Board of Nashville and an addi- tional appearance before the Metro Councilmen this I repeat that as agreed at our meeting information is to be kept strictly on a top on January 3 executive level It is definitely not to be distributed to the field sent It to you is with this understanding that the attachments are Sincerely yours / HMB LH Encs CC F. J. Solon Jr. February 26 1968 Charles E. DeLong Esq ~ Secretary and Resident Counsel Certain Products Corporation 120 East Lancaster Avenue Ardmore Pennsylvania 19003 Dear Charlie Attached is a copy of a letter from Dr. Irving J. Selikoff which presents the same point of view that Dr. Selikoff | expressed in his letter to Dr. Bistowish of Nashville last December 7. This letter is certainly more positive than negative for our Dr. cause and seems to take the wind out of Snell's sails since Dr. Snell used the Vanderbilt University's previous writings of - Dr. Selikoff in making his original allegations We are now proceeding full steam with the position paper on asbestos pipe A due date of March 15 has been placed on this position paper Also enclosed are some reproductions of newspaper clippings in connection with an appearance of Mr. J. Baker of Johns- Manville tefore the Metro Health Board of Nashville and an addi- tional appearance before the Metro Councilmen I repeat that as agreed at our meeting on January 3 this information is to be kept strictly on a top executive level It is definitely not to be distributed to the field It is with this understanding that the attachments are sent to you Sincerely yours HMB LH Encs F. J. Solon Jr. February 26 1968 Mr. S. D. Weaver Vice President and General Manager Cement Asbestos Pipe Company Ragland Alabama 35131 Dear Mr. Weaver Attached is a copy of a letter from Dr. Irving J. Selikoff which presents the same point of view that Dr. Selikoff expressed in his letter to Dr. Bistowish of Nashville last December 7. This letter is certainly more positive than negative for our cause and seems to take the wind out of Vanderbilt University's Dr. Snell's sails since Dr. Snell used the previous writings of . Dr. Selikoff in making his original allegations We are now proceeding full steam with the position paper on asbestos pipe A due date of March 15 has been placed on this position paper pings in Manville Also enclosed are some reproductions of newspaper clipconnection with an appearance of Mr. J. Baker of Johns- before the Metro Health Board of Nashville and an addi- tional appearance before the Metro Councilmen this I repeat that as agreed at our meeting information is to be kept strictly on a top on January 3 executive level It is definitely not to be distributed to the field sent It to you is with this understanding that the attachments are Very truly yours HMB LH Encs F. J. Solon / Jr. J ee, MMSSMM EDICINE oO . MOUNT MOUNT SINAI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE of The City University of New York FIFTH AVENUE AND 100TH STREET N.Y YOR1K 0029 ttre, CITY *, THE TOAK POUNDRO POUNDRO1987 Department of Community Medicine too, February 16 1968 Dr. F. L. Pundsack Director Division and Corporate Research and Development Manville Research and Engineering Center P. O. Box 159 ; Manville New Jersey 08835 Dear Dr. Pundsack . I have been aware that inquiries have been health hazard associated with the drinking through asbestos pipes made concerning the possible of potable water circulated I presume this concern is derived from the recognition of the . hazard of asbestos While this hazard exists I would qualify casruccihnocgaeten-ic gorization at this time by adding the phrase under certain industrial conditions Workmen occupationally exposed to asbestos have an increased risk in many instances of lung cancer pleural and peritoneal . possibly gastrointestinal mesothelioma cancer asbestosis and possibly several causes of death not yet well defined a very We are on exists with much less secure ground in judging whether any health hazard occupational asbestos exposure While there is evidence that environmental asbestos contamination occurs association of disease with the minimal levels involved has not been unequivocally demonstrated despite some suggestive evidence under special circumstances ~ To compound the difficulties in answering the question you ask studies on environmental asbestos disease have been concerned with inhalation There is no way to translate these exposure experiences into exposure by ingestion Thus we cannot equate a priori the response of the respiratory mucosa with that of the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract I am sure that these re- sponses to asbestos are markedly different For example asbestos bodies are often formed in lung parenchyma following inhalation of asbestos fibers yet such bodies occur rarely if at all in the gastrointestinal following ingestion mucosa Moreover experimental work so far adverse effects associated with has not yielded evidence of significant ingestion For example Russian work with feeding experiments has demonstrated some mucosal changes but these were minor while in our own Laboratory feeding experiments in hamsters have produced very few mucosal asbestos bodies and an adenocarcinoma of the colon in only one animal very likely coincidental since such are known to occur spontaneously in these animals Yet the exposure to ingested asbestos in this experimental work was very much larger indeed than in water obtained from might be anticipated asbestos pipes Dr. F. L. Pundsack | ' Page 2 February 16 1968 This is further not to study say that the it obviously problem does of ingested asbestos does not require First such studies will be useful in determining whether any relationship exists between ingestion of such material and the occurrence of peritoneal mesothelioma or gastrointestinal carcinoma alternate routes of contact can be suggested in the pathogenesis of these tumors and second as part of wider necessary studies to define whether any health hazard exists with level exposures in general Thus there is no evidence at this exposures by ingestion which might asbestos pipes has resulted time that the presumably very level occur by intake of water supplied through in a recognized health hazard Even if such a hazard could be defined it would be difficult to be sure that asbestos- cement pipe water were the only substances are filtered through source since a number of asbestos filters and may foodstuffs presumably . and other contain small numbers of the fibers including beer The question of potential health hazards associated with level environ- mental asbestos exposure is under intensive study at this time As noted the potential hazard of asbestos pipes is part of this I hope and trust that we will find that no hazard exists with level of exposure associated with environmental contamination general problem the very low and that the problem will be found to be confined to the much If I had to hazard a guess at this time I would heavier suggest exposure in industry that this is what we will find . I hope that this information will be of assistance to you in your research on this problem - Sincerely yours , rod s? J.J. Accs Bo Irving M.D. Professor Professor and Chairman . Division of Environmental Medicine IJS ~- THE NASHVILLE TENNESSEAN Thursday Feb. 27 1958 Cancer Tie Stirs Furor By FRANK RITTER Metro councilmen and "fi " t profes Vanderbilt University sor clashed verbally | yester- day over what prompted the| professor to infer recently' that asbestos cement pipe might cause cancer t Dr. James Snell assistant professor at the Vanderbilt school of medicine was ques- tioned at length by Council- man James Hamilton about a letter he wrote recently in which he raised the cancer question | THE IMPLICATION of your letter Hamilton told Snell during a council committee meeting was that Metro Council under the , guise of saving a few cents was going to place hundreds of thousands of people in danger of getting a dread . disease We certainly don't want to do that And coming at the time it did and in the alar~-n- ing way it was written and distributed to the public it would seen to me the letter . was unfair : The meeting a joint session of the finance and public works committees of Metro Council was called to con- sider whether the permit asbestos panies to bid on contracts city should pipe comMetro pipe Cast iron pipe has been used exclusively although it is more expensive initially than asbestos pipe for at least 40 years in the Nash- ville water system HAMILTON asked Snell yesterday if there have been any studies to determine if iron oxide from cast iron pipe might cause cancer Snell replied that there have been no such studies to his knowledge There has been no re- search Hamilton asked on whether asbestos cement pipe or cast iron pipe can cause cancer has there Snell said there has not been Hamilton said if Snell was sincere in raising the question about asbestos pipe he should have raised the same question about cast iron pipe think it is perfectly ica- sonable to raise such a ques- tion about cast Snell replied iron pipe WOULD YOU raise the question doctor asked Councilman James LaPenna would be very happy Turn to Page 12. Colun~-n7 ~~ Oe --- | Cancer Tie Stirs Forum Continued From Page One to write the Public Health Service about it Snell answered The whole question . of contamination of food and water should be raised in my opinion Snell sent his letter last November to Robert L. Lawrence waterworks director supporting Lawrence's decision to prohibit asbestes cement pipe manufacturers from bidding on Metro waterpipe purchases The professor said he would consider the use of asbestos pipe a medical hazard of significant degree until the Public Health Service has . checked it out completely EXPLAINING TO the coun- cilmen yesterday that he had no ulterior motive in writing the letter Snell said " regret the vindictive attitude that some people have against me merely as a result of my raising this question I'm not vindictive against you doctor Hamilton inter rupted In fact I had never met you until now It just seems to me that a scientist is under a requirement to state all factors in a case " don't think you under- _ stand how this came about Snell said " simply raised thought that before Nashville undertakes to buy large amounts of asbestos pipe this question should be raised IF YOU DESIRE to raise the same question about cast iron pipe then I think it is very reasonable I have no po- litical motive I have no fi- nancial interest in these pipe . companies I am not aligned politically with any group Hamilton reacted angrily at this statement by Snell and declared We're not inquiring doctor into your political alignments your religion or anything else The exchange between the councilmen and Snell followed presentations by representatives of both Clow Corp. which has supplied all Metro _ waterpipe the past four years and Manville Sales Corp. an asbestos pipe dealer seeking to bid on pipe pur- chases here wr = K. RAYMOND Augst assis- tant district sales manager for Manville told the coun- cilmen that there are strong , indications Metro could save ; 34 on its pipe purchases if the city permitted the asbes- tos pipe firms to bid } Augst said Metro bought | 1.3 million worth of : cast iron pipe from July 1966 to September 1967 As- bestos pipe Augst added| would have cost only 864,000 giving Metro a savings of 459,000 j Lawrence has defended buy- . ing the more expensive pipe on grounds it is better and~ has a greater factor of safety However Johns - Manville4 representatives insisted yesterday that their product will * serve the city equally as good : as cast iron pipe if it is in- _ stalled properly SHORTLY AFTER Snell wrote his letter last year to Lawrence raising the ques- ' tion of whether asbestos pipe could cause cancer the Metro Health Board took a similar stand & The board voted Jan. 17 to | not approve the use of asbes- tos pipe until sufficient in- formation could be obtained to prove if it is medically* ; safe early Yesterday at an early morning meeting the board _ voted to reconsider its stand on the basis of evidence sub- mitted by Manville Co. + representatives { j THE zt i R 4 F 5ki NASHVILE i i i Be : J TENISA * { : i , t i i { Yurday : f i 3 i a Feb. 1 i i 5 22. t 2. i b i t 1968 t piemny i \ apmnitser ste Spre CapenthoDeion ge ams : lke r $ { h io ae ; ~ Ff Ytonset aevehthrmageem ot aaa ok ft phe ae psig ^' e mre . ; ae eer ea. 3 eofa & ee arn | ^' -Staff chole by Jack Corn It's Cast Iron Asbestos in Council Squabble vs. [ councilmen listen -intently as spokesmen for cast iron and asbestos | Metro the relative merits of their products The piece of | cement pipe firms argue It was taken from an old city waterline pipe in the foreground is cast iron after serving without any breakdown for nearly 75 years Metro waterworks officials said The councilmen from left are Tandy Wilson Thurman Brooks and Richard Taylor -THE NASHVILLE BANNER Wed. Feb. 21 1968 ee - - : wrt ee ' Board To Review Health Board To Review | \ i ' Asbestos Water Pipe Use 1 The Metro Health Board on a causing agent when inhaled motion by Dr. David Strayhorn Bistowish said but added Sr. voted today to reconsider sufficient information is not its stand on the use of available concerning its use as concrete pipe for water lines a water conducting material i The board voted Jan. 17 to The U.S. Public Health Sernot approve the use of the vice is initiating a study into pipe until sufficient informa- asbestos pipe probably as a re- could tion be obtained prove sult the pipe was medically safe of an inquiry to them from the health department Metro health director Dr. board's eph wouldBisctohwaisnhgesaid position the safety of cerning the its pipe pipe but The service told us we were that the the that con- con- only that it first municipal health board raise the question concerning tthhe e Dr. piB pe is Dr. B- iBiss- - Representatives would reconsider any informa tion concerning the safety of the Representatives of an asbes- pipe pipe producer spoke is Asbestos is to the board to explain their po- known cancer sition The spokesmen said they objected to being guilty until | proven innocent COPY Research & Engineering Center June 6 1968 File 425-1 F. L. Pundsack Re Water Contamination Studies Letter of E. M. Fenner to F. L. Pundsack of 5/16/68 Using the information we have obtained on the quantity of fiber in water after passing through asbestos pipe we have calculated the rate of erosion of the pipe based on the following assumptions 1 The pipe contains 20 per cent by weight of fiber 2 The density of the pipe is 110 pcf 3 The rate of erosion uniform over the entire length of pipe 4 The strength of the pipe is reduced to half its original value when the wall thickness is reduced by half The attached table shows erosion rates in inches per year and the time in years required for the wall thickness to be reduced by onehalf These figures are for a 5 mile length of pipe with a water velocity of 4 sec and 6 micrograms of fiber in each gallon of water These calculations were made on the C.E.I.R. sharing computer and data are available for a much wider variety of conditions if they are required MAC Attachment CC E. M. Fenner S. Speil J. H. Swensen Attn J. F. Herr J. P. Leineweber ATTACHMENT EROSION OF ASBESTOS PIPE BASED ON FIBER CONTENT OF WATER Pipe Diame in 4 6 8 10 12 16 20 24 Erosion Rate in./yr in./yr 2.18 10-5 3.27 10-5 4.36 5.45 x 10-5 10-5 6.54 10-5 8.72 10-5 1.10 10-4 1.31 10-4 Years to 1/2 Wall Thickness 11,700 9,300 8,100 8,350 7,950 7,500 7,900 7,875 NOTE Data based upon a 5 mile length of pipe with a water velocity of 4 sec and a fiber content of 6 micrograms per gallon mac 6/6/68 Tabular Data Analysis of the evidence suggesting general community asbestos air pollution I.J. Selikoff M.D. and E. Cuyler Hammond Sc.D. Mount Sinai School of Medicine City University of New York Monday July 22 1968 Ninth American Medical Association Air Pollution Medical Research Conference Denver Colorado ae } & imal ae ws wet Selikoff and Hammond - 1 Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure Geographical Area Year Period Population Total rT EXPOSURE Occupation Neighborhood Exposure not Identified A. Occupational Series _ 1 London 1965 1957-64 71 Asbestos 15 15 Factory deaths * 2 New York- 1968 1942-67 369/632 asb 20 20 2-- New Jersey c worker deaths 3 Dresden 1968 1954-67 . 277 asb 30 30 worker deaths 4 . B. Local Case Records Series - 4 Liverpool 1964 1955-63 Tumor 17 14 Registry 5 Belfast 1965 1950-64 Pathology 42 32 Set ee records - z 6 London 1965 1917-64 Pathology 76 31 . 1960-64 records 7 New Jersey 1967 1964-66 Community 17 15 . Hospital 8 Malmo Sweden " 1968 1957-66 12763 Hosp 35 5 i g Autopsies 9 Newcastle 1968 - Path Records 22 20 C. Wide Series Province 10 N.W. Cape 1960 1965-60 - 33 17 S.A. . 11 Pennsylvania 1967 1958-63 - 42 200 A RA ...E eee oO 0 0 is) 0 0 - 3 0 10 . 11 25 2 (3) - 30 - 1 14 1 00 11 Selikoff and Hammond - 2 Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure 1 Smither W.J Proc Roy Soc Med 59:57 1966. 2 Selikoff I.J. 2nd International Symposium on Biological Effects of Asbestos Dresden April 22-25 1968. 3 Anspach .: Dresden 1968. 4 Owen .: Brit Med J. 2 214 1964. 5 Elmes P. McCaughey W.T.E. and Wade .: Brit Med J. 350 1965. 6 Newhouse M. and Thompson .: Brit J. Indust Med 261 1965. 7 Borow M. Conston A. Livornese L.L. and Schalet .: JAMA 201 1967. 8 H^/gerstrand I. Meurman L. and ^ dlund .: Acta Path Microbiol Scand 177 1968 9 Ashcroft .: Dresden 1968. 10 Wagner J.C. Sleggs C.A. and Marchand .: Brit J. Indust Med 260 1960. 11 Lieben J. and Pistawka .: Arch Envir Health 55a 1967 aoe - Selikoff and Hammond 3 Pleural calcification asbestotic among populations living in vicinity of asbestos mines ' Finland County A Asbestos Mine County B No Mine Bulgaria Avren County Asbestos Mine Number Examined Pleural Calcification 6312 499 7101 3325 0 155 23132 23132 23132 1 - Kiviluoto .: Acta Radiol Suppl 194 1960 2 - Zolov Bourilkov and Babadjov Envir Res 287 1967 Be Selikoff and Hammond - 4 CITY Asbestos bodies in autopsy series Year of Publication Technique Number Examined Percent Positive Total Male Female Occupational Analysis Capetown Belfast Pittsburgh Finland 1963 1965 1965 1966 Smear 500 Thin sections 200 Smears 100 Thick sections 264 Miami London 1966 1966 Smear 500 Thick sections 115 Montreal 1966 1966 Scape Smear 100 80 Glasgow Milan 1967 1967 Smear Smear 100 - 100 Newcastle 1968 = Scrape 311 City New York _ . 1968 Thick section 90s1 ashed 26.4 - 41.0 57.6 27.2 24.3 48.0 21.2 23.0 51.0 20.3 42.4 30.4 20.5 47.2 60.1 31,6 - 57.1 - 37.1 54.7 25.5 46.9 20.0 1 34.5 54.3 20.4 - 36.4 - 0 44.4 11.3 33.4 0 + 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 + + 1 Thompson Kaschula and MacDonald S. Afr Med J. 37:77 1963 2 Elmes McCaughey and Wade Brit Med J. 350 1965. 3 Cauna Totten and Gross J.A.M.A. 371 1965. 4 Muerman .: Acta Path Microbiol Suppl 181 1966. 5 Thompson and Graves Arch Path 548 6 Hourihane Lessof and Richardson Brit Med J. 1069 1966 7 Anjivel and Thurlbeck Canad Med Assoc J. 1179 1966. 8 Roberts J. Clin Path 58 223 1967. 570 1967.. 9 Ghezzi Molteni and Puccetti Med Lavoro 10 Ashcroft Brit Med J. 614 1968. 11 Selikoff and Hammond current studies eek Pat, u Selikoff and Hammond -5 Asbestos bodies in the lungs consecutive autopsies N.Y.C. of 901 1966-67 0-1 2-19 20-39 40-59 60-79 80+ ' TOTAL 0/47 1/5 14/47 110/262 220/454 37/86 382/901 MALES 0/26 0/2 11/34 32 90/192 47 155/299 52 25/46 54 281/599 47 FEMALES 0/21 1/3 3/13 23 20/70 29 65/155 42 12/40 30 101/302 33 eon Leret sete. Selikoff and Hammond - 6 Asbestos bodies in the lungs of a series of 561 NYC residents examined at autopsy 1966-1967 with study of occupation MALE FEMALE AGE NO +1 % POS NO +1 = POS 0-1 2-19 20-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80+ 0 1 21 51 71 110 98 30 382 0 0 14 33 23 28 45 38 33 54 61 49 55 55 43 56 16 14 53 200 182 11 18 22 46 152 29 179 0 0 ; 1 0 4 7 36 4 14 22 5 17 23 21 19 ... 62 25 45 33 38 21 27 117 52 35 382 179 561 200 62 262 TOTAL + 182 117 299 - \ ny Z A f : 5 5 = . Selikoff and Hammond = 7 t Asbestos bodies in 561 NYC autopsies categorized by potential occupational asbestos exposure AGE 0-1 MALES NOT KNOWN 0/0 KNOWN 0/0 FEMALES NOT KNOWN 0/0 KNOWN 0/0 2-19 0/0 0/1 0/0 1/1 20-39 0/1 7/20 0/0 4/11 ma 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 9/14 = 14/37 13/22 25/49 12/19 15/19 49/91 40/79 0/0 0/0 2/2 0/0 4/18 5/22 19/44 19/52 80+ 6/6 10/24 0/0 8/29 55/81 145/301 2/2 60/177 68 Me 48 34 ar em oe an pe ror Selikoff and Hammond _8 Asbestos bodies in 561 NYC autopsies by broad occupational categories MALES AGE 0-1 2-19 20-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80+ BLUE COLLAR 0/0 WHITE COLLAR 0/0 0/0 0/1 5/9 56 2/12 17 20/34 59 3/17 18 24/44 55 14/27 52 43/70 61 34/64 53 18/40 45 21/34 62 12/19 63 4/11 36 138/240 58 62/142 44 200/382 . 52 FEMALES 0/0 1/1 4/10 40 4/19 21 5/21 24 21/46 46 20/53 38 7/29 24 62/179 35 -3 32/138 6/62 ; - ae, ee Selikoff and Hammond - 9 Asbestos bodies in specific occupational categories among 561 autopsies NYC 1966-67 TOTAL POSITIVE POSITIVE -3 SHIPYARD CONSTRUCTION TRANSPORTATION MAINTENANCE 18/22 82 34/48 71 20/34 59 8/10 9/18 12/34 4/20 4/10 a Pa s^' tere we wt PLEURAL CALCIFICATION X RAY SURVEY IN SELECTED FINNISH AREAS 1960-1965 ( RAUNIO AREA POPULATION 1. 10 rural counties East Finland ae asbestos deposits 72,439 2, 25 rural counties East Finland . no asbestos deposits 232,754 3 71 rural counties S.W. and N. Finland no asbestos deposits 534,861 4 13 Medium towns 4,536-76,231 4,536-7,231 4,536-76,231 315,040 * NO RAYED 43,483 43,483 NO CALCIFICATION ; 1232 129,587 70 265,223 7 , 194,908 119 CALCIFICATION 28.00 0.54 0.61 Approximately 80 of inhabitants over 15 G A a ty eee Environmental Control Department Research & Engineering Center May 16 1968 ^' = W. P. Raines " GR Meeting With United States Public Health Service Water Contamination Studies M47 , On Wednesday May 15 and Thursday May 16 1968 Dr. Graham Walton and Water Supply & Sea Resources Program National Center for Urban & Industrial Health Department of Health Education & Walfara Cincinnati Ohio visited the Research Center to discuss the results of our of potable water from asbestos pipe Meeting with WOTE studies on contamination them from Manville F. L. Pundsack J. P. Laineweber M. M. Jackson B. M. Peaner ames We completely reviewed with then phases 1 and 2 of our study eet 1 Study of Municipal Water Systems 9 cities 2 Bound Manville Comparisons After introductory remarks by the techniques ve used Data were passed out and discussed E. M. Fauner sheets giving in detail J. F. Laineweber complate results described in detail from these studies During our discussions we repeatedly stressed the facts ' 1 The all is of fibers found - under 0.5 in diameter Kean 2 Maximum fiber found in sny municipal system was approximately 6 nierogramm 6 gper gallon Our visitors resation was very favorable They stated they were impressed with the thoroughness and apparent accurney of our study a a Neither Dr. Walton nor Mr. Coane has medical or toxicological training The data and impressions they obtained will be reviewed with medical people and toxicologists at Cincinnati Final determinations will be based on our results and results from a study presently being conducted by their Environmental Activities Group Findings will not be published or presented as a paper will be available to Manville and to any government official such as They a Public Health Officer Findings may not be quoted by us in our advertising However we are at liberty to refer inquiries to the Department of Health Education and Welfare f^,ranswers My impression is that Dr. Walton and Mr. Coane's report of our activities _ will be highly favorable to us ems E. M. Fenner B. M. F. L. J. P. J. H. File Jackson - DEN Pundsack Laineweber Swensen rn Division Headquarters August 8 1968 H. M. Jackson - 2nd Floor <==". POLYMERS FOR SEWAGE FLOW YOUR LETTER TO D. L. HINMON AUGUST 5 1968 Thank you for sending us the New York Times article on Polymers that Speed the Flow of Sewage John Wirts of Cleveland who is mentioned in the article is a personal friend of ours and has written me about this material We plan to discuss it with him personally at a meeting in Chicago next month I appreciate you taking time to send We need all the help we can get and you're looking out for us us the article it's good to know K ~ J. S. AUTRY JSA CC D. L. Hinmon - 11th Floor M. Harris ...... ... General Headquarters ... February 5 1968 H. M. Researc Ball cement Researc Herb Transite Asbesto Attached is a Asbesto progress on our - environmental health project in the asbestos- , cement area In line meeting want to with our agreement at the January 3rd of / pipe manufacturers you may pass this report on to them If there are questions before so doing please let me know a ca Dr George W. M. Harris W. Baker Wright Cleveland PROGRESS REPORT Environmental Health Project Asbestos Pipe At the conclusion of the January 3rd meeting of asbestoscement pipe manufacturers several of us volunteered for specific assignments This is the first report of progress on those assignments Assignment H. M. Ball to visit the General Counsel of the Cast Iron Pipe Research Association to discuss the desirability of eliminating reference to alleged health hazards in the promotion of various types of water pipe PROGRESS Mr. Ball and Jay Baker carried out this assignment on January 18 meeting with both the General Counsel and the Executive Secretary of the Association at the Counsel's Washington D.C. office Mr. Ball has reported the successful results of that meeting to the other / pipe manufacturers M Pipe Division people report no new incidents > ~fekr since that time Assignment F. J. Solon Jr. to visit Dr. Murray Brown of the U.S. Public Health Service to sound him out on what PHS plans to do about questions regarding the safety of / pipe and whether he would be receptive to the idea of broadening any PHS study to include cast iron plastic and other types of pipe used to carry potable water PROGRESS At a subsequent meeting with Dr. George W. Wright Medical Consultant to the President of Manville it was deemed advisable for Dr. Wright who knows Dr. Brown well to make the contact He did so by phone the week of January 21. Dr. Brown told Dr. Wright he was aware of the problem that Senator Gore of Tennessee had shown interest in it and that he Dr. Brown had an appointment with i Dr. Stewart the Surgeon General that week and that the subject of / pipe could very well come up He promised " to report after his aT visit with Dr. Stewart He did not report that week so Dr. Wright called him January 31 to learn not come 1. The subject did up in Dr. Brown's meeting with the Surgeon General 2. If there is to be a test program on / pipe it will probably be given to Dr. Brown's - group and that he has already made up his mind to include cast iron plastic and other types of pipe in the program 3. Dr. Brown has written to Dr. I. J. Selikoff asking for a copy of Dr. Selikoff's letter to Dr. Bistowish Director of Health of Nashville and Davidson County He is awaiting receipt of that letter before writing to Senator Gore as the Senator had requested He -3- has had no pressure from Senator Gore in the meantime and believes the political pressure is off In light of the above it would not seem to be necessary for a delegation of / pipe manufacturers to visit Dr. Brown or anyone else in the PHS at this time regarding the inclusion of cast iron pipe etc. in any test program However we will keep in touch with the situation through Dr. Wright so that should consideration of a test program become imminent we will be on top of it and can then mutually decide strategy Assignment v Manville will prepare aposition background paper on the / pipe environmental health question PROGRESS _. The first rough draft has been completed To the comments of Dr. Wright which form a firm base for this paper we wantetdo add those of Dr. Selikoff Ivan Sabourin Counsel to the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association obtained from Dr Selikoff a copy of the Selikoff letter to Dr. Bistowish along with his Dr. Selikoff's permission to give it to F. J. Solon Jr. This gave us direct knowledge of the letter instead of the indirect knowledge we had had previously Now in order to get our own letter of comment Dr. Fred Pundsack of Manville who with a group including -4- Mr. Sabourin has been having exploratory scientific meetings with the Selikoff Mount Sinai group for several months wrote to Dr. Selikoff on January 30th requesting his comments on health aspects of / pipe We understand that Dr. Selikoff will answer this request - so that in the next two weeks we should have our own letter from which we can excerpt for position background paper If this works out as scheduled we should have a final position paper ready by March 1st Assignment F.J. Solon Jr. to talk with Dr. Wright re possible research programs on the / pipe health question \ PROGRESS Dr. Wright contacted Dr. Robert T. deTreville of the Industrial Hygiene Foundation Pittsburgh where much asbestos fiber research has been and is being carrie od n Dr. deTreville's letter to Dr. Wright with an attached report from Dr. Paul Gross shows that in tests already underway involving rat feeding no abnormalities have been found in the gastro intestinal tracts of these %. animals in the 21 months since the test program began This is encouraging and we hope this preliminary report will be borne out on the final report when all animals have been processed We have no date as yet for this final report Since these tests involve chrysotile fiber only Dr. Wright is now considering the advisability of a similar test program involving crocidilite fiber This will be further discussed at a meeting on February 20 Further on the Nashville situation Attached are copies of two clippings from the Nashville Banner January 17 and the Nashville Tennessean January 19 showing that Dr. Bistowish is still openly opposing / pipe despite the point of view expressed in Dr. Selikoff's letter to him At a meeting this past week with Moke Harris and Jay Baker of the M Pipe Division we agreed on strategy aimed at getting the full story into the Nashville papers Dr. Selikoff's letter to Dr. Bistowish which takes a much temperate view of the hazard than ' pr. Bistowish has thus far verbalized to the press and others WATER CONTAMINATION STUDIES At the January 3rd meeting we covered briefly the water test program we were getting underway at the Manville Research Center Attached is a confirming memo from Ed Fenner Director of our Environmental Control Department regarding that program ae -6- Generally I would say good progress is being made We will continue to report as that progress warrants F. J. Solon Jr. Environmental Control Department Research & Engineering Center January 2 1968 CONFIDENTIAL W. P. Raines - GHQ Water Contamination Studies The water contamination studies planned by the in three groups In the first two the samples checked as follows Research Center are collected will be 1 Filtration tests and microscopic examination of the particulate matter to detect asbestos if present 2 Water hardness 3 Water pH 4 Iron content of the water The Group I program involves tests of water from Bound Brook N. J. an all iron pipe town and Manville N. J. an all asbestos- cement pipe immediately weekly from town The sampling and testing program will begin after the first of the year Samples will be taken each town The program will continue until definitive results are obtained The Group II test program involves water samples from the following cities ogee? oe Globe Arizona San Diego California Long Beach California Providence Rhode Island Wichita Kansas Memphis Capleville District Tennessee Two samples will be taken from each city The first sample will be the source water before it has passed through asbestos pipe and the Samples second will from Globe be water after San Diego and it has passed through the pipe Long Beach have been received and the others are due soon CONFIDENTIAL W. P. Raines - GHQ -2- January 2 1968 The Group III tests will be made on a new pipe test loop stand under construction at the Research and Engineering Center This test stand will permit controlled studies of the erosion or disintegration of asbestos pipe by water of different pH and hardness values The system utilizes a 30 test run of asbestos pipe and is equipped with fairly sophisticated control equipment The water run through the test will be filtered and examined for asbestos fiber content The water which will not be recirculated will be continuously and automatically adjusted to the proper pH and hardness values This system is scheduled to be in operation in April 1968 The first term test is planned with very severe water conditions insofar as asbestos pipe is concerned - low pH and low hardness ee oes a )e7o E. M. Fenner EMF ems ec: F. L. J. H. File C Pundsack Swensen NASHVILLE BANNER JANUARY 17,1968 ody Health Board Advises SN AN AANN vet + ' AN Against Against Against By DICK BATTLE has asked the Nashville Acad we can assure follow offemy The Metropolitan Board up of Medicine through care . The director said Public Health recommended Health Committee head he would probably discuss the used asbestos cement pipe not be | ed by Dr. Alvin Keller to in matter with Vanderbilt and in the Metropolitan water sys vestigate the use of asbestos General Hospital officials tem until more evidence can pipe . be developed concerning any The board in other actions Dr. Bistowish said a study of , . ! health hazard from asbestos fi- this morning voted to influenza cases involving em- add bers asbestos measles vaccination to the implant ployes at a local industrial Dr. Joseph Bistowish director munizations required for implant indicates a new strain of ; ad of health said the board has mission to schools flu virus A Taiwan was nursery re- instructed me to recommend to schools and day care the centers cause of much of the Mr. Lawrence director of wa- cent flu epidemic re- ter and sewerage services Ro- Delays Clinic He said clinical evidence strain bert L. Lawrence against the The board delayed opening of might develop another a use of asbestos pipe at this time public health clinic in the but we know this new A until we can get more evidence Edgehill Urban renewal proj Taiwan strain has been preva We want more information about ect pending discussion of sev lant here based on the small it before we can make a eral firmn problems indigency indigency indigency including number of cases checked at decision decision ss the wg level of indigency and how in-- ustrial plant { we "s Councilman James LaPenna =~ has been urging that bidding be opened to allow purchase of asbestos pipe cat Rejected Plea 1 Lawrence who is responsible for specifications on materials has rejected LaPenna's sugges- tions on the basis cast iron pipe is superior to the asbestos pipe in tensile strength and suit- ability for use here Several medical experts have suggested the possibility that the ingestion of asbestos fibers from the use of asbestos pipe might be a cause of intestinal incer Dr. Bistowish said he also NASHVILLE TENNESSEAN JANUARY 19 1968 TENNESSEAN TENNESSEAN TENNESSEAN Boe we Bistowish Bistowish Bistowish Bistowish Bistowish Bistowish Bistowish 3 Asbestos Asbestos Asbestos Asbestos OpposesOpposes Use Use i By FRANK HITTER * Dr. Joseph Bistowish Metro health director recommended to a council committee last . night that asbestos cement pipe not be used in the water sys- ter here because of possible health hazards There is no evidence Bistowish explained to prove that the ingestion of asbestos fibers is not related to cancer And - until further tests are conducted to show that no hazard exists . the health director added " would not like asbestos pipe carrying water to my house However a sales representative for a major asbestos pipe manufacturer replied that cities which have used asbestos pipe . for decades show no greater in K. RAYMOND Augst as sistant district sales manager for Manville Sales Corp. a manufacturer of asbestos pipe said asbestos pipe has been used for 25 to 30 years in some cities if we would have discussed we had been given a chance to reply U.S. Department of Commerce figures which show that the use of asbestos pipe without adverse consequences throughout the country has in| There is nothing to prove creased from 21.7 of the busihe added that there are not ness in 1945 to 31 in 1965 agents in cast iron pipe which During the same period the use would cause cancer of cast iron pipe has dropped Augst then raised the question from 76.3 to 64.2 of whether the tar which is This indicates that the use used for the inside lining of cast of asbestos pipe in water sysiron pipe is carcinogenic can tems throughout the nation is pipe producing " Taylor called last | accepted inght's The public works committee meeting of the public works committee primarily to permit made no recommendation last repr^'sentatives for Clow Corp. night on whether Metro should manufacturer of cast iron purchase asbestos pipe instead to explain why they feel of cast iron their pipe product is better than asbestos | Under present policies of the cidence of cancer than cities pipe * that don't use the pipe LENNART A. Fahlander gen.not BISTOWISH MADE his rec- eral sales manager for the cor : ommendation to the council's public works committee headed _ by Councilman Richard Taylor poration spoke for an hour about what he termed the ad- Vantages of using cast iron presentation his - The public works committee pipe using colored slides to i along with the council's pur- iustrate his talk He spent an chasing committee has been other half hour answering ques- tions studying the relative merits of 1 asbestos and cast iron pipe Taylor sharply limited discussion of questions raised by Nashville has used cast iron August competitor of Clow pipe exclusively although it is Corp. and would not allow the more expensive than asbestos asbestos pipe representative to _.. pipe for at least 40 years in +6 wen. the water system here Robert give a full { of L. Lawrence Jr. Metro water- views ' Awe waterworks department the as- bestos pipe representatives are FW gen.not permitted to bid on con- tracts for supplying pipe to the ; local government os wat works director defended W. J. Hayes Jr. direct sales the practice on grounds cast representative for Joh- n Mas n- - iron pipe is better ville said he thinks most of the Bistowish raising the ques- adverse comments about asbes + tion relating to a possible health tos pipe could have been refuted hazard inherent in asbestos if Taylor had permitted others pipe said it is a proven fact the freedom he gave Clow rep- that inhalation of asbestos fibers resentatives in speaking out can cause cancer We were not given an oppor- We do know that you can tunity at this meeting Hayes get cancer by inhaling asbestos added to make a presenta fibers he added but we tion or offer a rebuttal to the atiroenn'otf cfiebretrasin-atbhoeurte hthaeveinbgeeesn- questions raised no studies to prove it doesn't IF WE HAD been permitted cause cancer to speak out we would have It is my understanding that shown asbestos pipe has been such studies are now underway used for many decades in all and perhaps they will shed some parts of the nation and used light on the question But to my with great success mind there are too many un- a answered questions at this time about asbestos pipe GULLETT LAW OFFICES STEELE SANFORD & WHITE B. B. GULLETT THOMAS WARDLAW STEELE VAL SANFORD CHARLES HAMPTON WHITE JACK WRIGHT ROBINSON BEN CANTRELL February 26 1968 SEVENTEENTH FLOOR Life & Casualty Tower NASHVILLE TENNESSEE 37210 TELEPHONE 244.4094 Mr. Jay F. Baker Production Water Pipe Division Manville Corporation 22 East 40th Street Manager New York New York 10016 Dear Mr. Baker Enclosed is a copy of my letter which I have mailed to the Board through Mr. Willis its Chairman summarizing our position which we advocated before the Board We are sending you under separate cover a taped transcript of the hearing before the Board Dr. Bistowish advises that there will be no charge for this but that the Board would be pleased if you would furnish them with a new tape I think this would be advisable Presumably I will be notified when the Board has taken a position upon its reconsideration and I will of course advise you and Mr. Ball It was Nashville a pleasure to have worked with you in Very truly yours Dizie Thomas Thomas Thomas Thomas WarilawWarilaw Dizie ---- -- Thomas Wardlaw Steele TWS Enclosure XC Mr. Herbert Ball Se TO CC Yh I January 9 1968 C. B. Burnett K H. M. Ball E. M. Fenner H. M. Jackson K. V. Lindell A. B. Marchant C. L. Sheckler F. J. Solon A. C. Smith Dr. George W. Wright Ivan Sabourin Carl Thompson Hill & Knowlton - - folo TransilsTransils PrPr for G. H. Martens Jr. RE RESEARCH STUDIES ON ASBESTOS PIPE \ ts As promised at the December 19 meeting Ed Fenner has prepared a summation of the status of the various water contamination studies being planned or conducted at the Research Center I believe that we agreed that this should be distributed to the Committee so attached is a copy wpr att -*- , Beij Beij Beij Beij Beij W. P. Raines " - -THE NASHVILLE BANNER Wed. Feb. 21 1908 ee ee Health Board To Review | cz | | Asbestos Water Pipe Use : The Metro Health Board on a causing agent when inhaled motion by Dr. David Strayhorn Dr. Bistowish said but added Sr. voted today to reconsider that sufficient information is not its stand on the use of asbestos- concrete pipe for water lines | The board voted Jan. 17 to not approve the use of the pipe until sufficient informa- tion could obtained to prove the pipe was medically safe | Metro health director Dr. Jos- available concerning its use as a water conducting material i The U.S. Public Health Ser- vice is initiating a study into asbestos pipe probably as a re- sult of an inquiry to them from the health department | ! board eph Bistowish said the action did not mean board's The service told us we were board's that it the first municipal health would change its position to con- raise the question concerning cerning the pipe but only that it the safety of the pipe Dr. Bis- towish said would reconsider any informa informa asbes- tion concerning the safety of the Representatives of an pipe cement pipe producer spoke Asbestos is a known canceri t. soittihoen bTohaerdsptoo keexspmleainn stahiedirthpeoy- objected to being guilty until proven innocent ' - ey ~ we THE NASHVILLE TENNESSEAN Thursday Feb. 22 1968 Cancer Tie Stirs Furor By FRANK RITTER i Metro councilmen and a Vanderbilt University profes- } * sor clashed verbally yester- day over what prompted the | professor to infer recently ' that asbestos cement pipe might cause cancer Dr. James Snell assistant professor at the Vanderbilt School of medicine was questioned at length by Councilman James Hamilton about a letter he wrote recently in which he raised the cancer question vl THE IMPLICATION of your letter Hamilton told Snell during a council com- mittee Metro meeting Council was that under the guise of saving a few cents was going to place hundreds of thousands of people in danger of getting a dread disease We certainly don't want to do that And coming at the time it did and in the alar~-n- ing way it was written and distributed to the public it would seem to me the letter was unfair ? The meeting a joint session of the finance and public works committees of Metro Council was called to con- sider whether the city should asbestos pipe com- panies on Metro pipe contracts Cast iron pipe has been used exclusively although it is more expensive initially than asbestos pipe for al least 40 years in the Nash- ville water system HAMILTON asked Snell yes- terday if there have been any studies to determine if iron oxide from cast iron pipe might cause cancer Snell re- plied that there have been no such studies to his knowledge There has been no re- search Hamilton asked on whether asbestos cement pipe or cast iron pipe can cause cancer has there Snell said there has not been Hamilton said if Snell was sincere in raising the question about asbestos pipe he should have raised the same ques tion about cast iron pipe I think it is perfectly rea- sonable to raise such a ques- tion about cast Snell replied iron pipe WOULD YOU raise the question doctor asked Councilman James LaPenna would be very happy Turn to Page 12 Column 7 Cancer Tie Stirs Forum Continued From Page One to write the Public Health Service about it Snell an- K. RAYMOND Augst assis- swered The whole question ' tant district sales manager for of contamination of food and water should be raised in my - Manville told the councilmen that there are strong opinion Snell sent his letter last November to Robert L. Law- rence waterworks director supporting Lawrence's decision to prohibit asbestes cement pipe manufac indications Metro could save 34 on its pipe purchases if the city permitted the asbes- ; tos pipe firms to bid Augst said Metro bought 1.3 million worth of turers from bidding on Metro waterpipe purchases The professor said he would consider the use of asbestos pipe a medical hazard of significant degree until the Public Health Service has checked it out completely EXPLAINING TO the coun- cilmen yesterday that he had no ulterior motive in writing the letter Snell said " regret the vindictive attitude that some people have against me merely as a result of my raising this ques_ tion cast iron pipe from July 1966 to September 1967. As bestos pipe Augst added would have cost only 864,000 giving Metro a savings of 459,000 1 Lawrence has defended buy- . ing the more expensive pipe ~ on grounds it is better and has a greater factor of safety 3 However Johns - Manville representatives insisted yesterday that their product will : serve the city equally as good _ ' as cast iron pipe if it is in- : stalled properly I'm not vindictive against _ you doctor Hamilton inter- rupted In fact I had never met you until now It just seems to me that a scientist is under a requirement to state all factors in a case " don't think you under- _ stand how this came about Snell said " simply raised thought that before Nashville undertakes to buy large amounts of asbestos pipe this question should be raised IF YOU DESIRE to raise the same question about cast iron pipe then I think it is SHORTLY AFTER Snell i wrote his letter last year to Lawrence raising the ques - tion of whether asbestos pipe . could cause cancer the Metro ; Health Board took a similar stand i The board voted Jan. 17 to * not approve the use of asbes- ! tos pipe until sufficient in formation could be obtained to prove if it is medically : safe mw. Yesterday at an early morning meeting the board _ ' voted to reconsider its stand on the basis of evidence sub- very reasonable I have no po- litical motivesI have no fi- nancial interest these pipe companies Fam Fam not aligned politically with any group mitted by Manville Co. . representatives Hamilton reacted angrily at this statement by Snell and declared We're not inquiring doctor into your political alignments your religion or anything else The exchange between the councilmen and Snell followed 1 presentations by representa- tives of both Clow Corp. which has supplied all Metro , : waterpipe the past four years and Manville Sales " Corp. an asbestos pipo dealer seeking to bid on pipe pur- chases here - GuLLETT LAW OFFICES STEELE Sanford & WHITE 8 8 lief DOMAS NUL SUEELE VAL SANFONO SANFONO CHARLES HAMPTON WHITE JACK WRIGHT NODINSON DEN H. CANTRELL NODINSON February 26 1968 S ycinkani S yciLin fe k & Caa suan ltyi Tower NNASHAVILSLEHN VILALESHVILLE TENNESTSEENNEESSEE TENNESSEE 37210 , 37210 TELEPHONE 244.4004 Mr. William R. Willis Jr. Chairman Metropolitan Board of Health Nashville Tennessee Dear Bill . to Personally I again express you and the Board our sincere appreciation for the courteous and full hearing which you gave my client Manville Corporation on February 21 on the question of the use of asbestos cement pipe in the city water system Due to the length of time our presentation took .. I did not want to further infringe on the Board's time and patience with a closing statement Rather I thought it would be well for me to write you and the other Board members simply summarizing our client's position which we to express and advocate before the Board is this Simply attempted stated it There is no evidence of any kind at the present time that the use of asbestos cement pipe in metropolitan water systems constitutes a potential health hazard related to the increase of incidence of cancer in the digestive organs resulting from ingestion of asbestos particles or fibers Our presentation attempted to demonstrate to the Board 1 there no authoritative medical information on the subject because for the first time in a year history of the use this pipe in public water systems the question has been raised at Nashville as to whether or not it presents a health hazard 2 that authoritative medical opinion that is available is all to the effect that there is no probability that a health problem exists in the use of asbestos cement pipe 3 that there is no established relationship either by scientific study or logical deduction between the health hazard presented by inhalation of asbestos fibers in an indus- trial environment and any danger resulting from the ingestion Mr. William R. Willis February 26 1968 Page 2 Jr. Chairman of the comparatively minute quantitoyf asbestos fiber which could be expected from the use of asbestos cement pipe in a water system and 4 that my client Manville Corpora- tion has commenced what of the problem since the it hopes question will be a definitive study has been raised at Nashville and the preliminary findings and conclusions from this study are that in seventy years one person could not be expected to system ingest as much asbestos material from a water as an insulation worker could be expected to inhale in one hour period and further that there are no asbestos particles in the sampled water systems large enough to meet the definition of a particle in the authoritative determination of the minimum particle count that produces a safe environment for industrial workers in industries using asbestos We have suggested to the Board of Health that the .. position which it has previously taken is unfair and discriminatory toward our client as a producer and seller of asbestos cement pipe because of the lack of evidence upon which to base disapproval of asbestos cement pipe in the municipal water system The Board's previous action was to recommend that the Metropolitan Government not use asbestos cement pipe until sufficient evidence and information was available to establish that it is free from health hazard It is our position that stigma disapproval this of thus placed by the Board upon our penalty client's product is an extraordinary turers and sellers of asbestos cement pipe against which has manufac- been imposed merely because it has been suggested to the Board that the known carcinogenic qualities of asbestos fibers when inhaled in great quantities environment quantities basis by workers for deduction in an industrial that the use of the pipe affords a in a water system may possibly present a parallel problem by ingestion of asbestos particles through consumption By the same process of reason- ing it could be said that asbestos brake linings in common use on virtually every automobile on the streets of the city should be banned because it is known that when brakes are applied minute particles of asbestos are emitted into the air and because of the studies which have been made in industrial environments where the pollution has been extreme a health hazard may be presented by the use of the brake linings Mr. William R. Willis February 26 1968 Page 3 Jr. Chairman We submit that Dr. Strayhorn correctly summarized the Board's alternatives on its reconsideration of the matter that is 1 adopt its previous position of disapproval 2 approve asbestos cement pipe because of no known evidence to form the basis of disapproval or 3 neither approve nor disapprove until information and evidence is developed and presented to form the basis for a conclusion It is our position that the first of these which the Board has already adopted is the least justified under the circumstances par- ticularly in view of the fact that the stigma of disapproval has not been accorded a number of other products including cast iron pipe which according to authoritative studies contain materials which are potentially just as producing that the Board would be justified in assuming the second position as being consistent with due process which requires some evidence being produced before guilt is affixed and the Board should at least assume the position of neutrality stated thirdly until it is presented evidence upon which it can rely either for approval or disapproval We have every confidence that this Board when it exercises the deliberate calm and mature judgment of which it is fully capable on a reconsideration of this matter will reverse its previous stand and adopt one of the last two alternative positions thereby depriving those who from a competitive standpoint have attempted to conduct a scare campaign against our client's products of the weapon which was afforded them by the Board's previous position a me Very yours Jhanson Hardkins Thomas Wardlaw Steele forfor TWS XC Dr. Otto Billig Mrs. Robert T. Lagemann Dr. W. David Strayhorn . ee nn oon eee ae ee i ee ee aera! wee CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL D. L. Hinmon Division Headquarters December 14 1967 i The Cancer Scare Asbestos Pipe Today we had officials from Fairfax County Virginia visit our plant After we showed them our process and product they brought out a copy of the articles that appeared in the Nashville papers They asked what work JM had done to prove that asbestos was not harmful to public health in asbestos water pipe We are fairly sure that they received these articles from the Nashville papers from representatives of the cast companies Therefore is our belief that these iron pipe articles will be spread much further our competition and that we will need to furnish as quickly as possible official statements to our District Managers in the field whenever and wherever this question is raised I therefore request a meeting you and Mr. Solon as quickly as possible as to what information we can immediately send to the field We could keep this information date as we gain more information on the program that is now underway for the development of more information on this subject Hugh Jackson was notified by the Cincinnati Office of the U. S. Public Health Service that this problem and render an they are opinion going They to completely investigate have asked Hugh what work will with we have to help guide them in their work Therefore it also benecessary to set up the best type of communications these people in Cincinnati for the work that they will be doing to develop their answer In addition I think that we should inform the Certainteed Company The Flintkote Company and the Cement Asbestos Pipe Company of the information that we have developed so far Also to keep them informed of additional information as we develop it I suggest we phone these companies and try to set up a date in carly January for them to come to New York and hear the story that we D. L. Ilinmon - 2 - December 14 1967 presented to the City of Nashville people Further to discuss their ideas for them to on how the problem share in any costs the necessary information should be attacked and possibly incurred on the development of I further recommend that I inform the Sales Managers of these companies Ed Kock of Flintkote James Reichel of Certainteed and Lee Taylor of Capco of our intentions of holding such a meeting and try to arrive at a mutually satisfactory date At the same time I would like to inform that we will have an attorney present and a court recorder that will record all of our deliberations this subject only and that we will confine our discussions to MH CC C. B. Burnett F. J. SolonH. Jackson J. F. Baker file M. HARRIS 7 M. Harris - DHI Research & Tagineering Center November 30 1967 At the October meeting meeting on this October projecstummarizes This letterletter would it was agreed that theinformation currently currently available be summarized for further available discussion at the no Locting the information have Please advise if you believe More Hangover should be assigned and if so where should effort be dcercased The project originated as SPR 22 22 Improved Soit Ruter Coating for Potable improve Water Pipe The was to improve the Coating appearence and clirincts the clor foobrjective costing requested pipe problems found with the cephalt costing Mr. Orth elso requested that exploribozy exploribozy work on a system coating all water be included under this project Through September 30 the & D costs liavebeen 1807 the 13,500 During expenditures have been 5,500 through September 30. In terms of poorpoor this is at the rate of 1/6 of a man tealyear in 1907 which problem potential It ccating applied to all and therefore cannot fro the sun . A cubstitute conting polyterpene is appearance andgroudly reduced olor temporarily catisfied catisfied Providence R.I. pipe purchased by them It has poor ultravicist be inventoried by J or the custo be without iss probrobics Other have bech coatings an improved coating It packages packages It is oimilar checked and pealed under recommending TP trial and are being evaluated He believe that we 172 10 is tolume copolymer approved for coating for to polytorgone in many poopoets To date it has not ultraviolet although it does show yellowing Le are It is anticipated that inch 150 - .000 consideration Once a satisfactory replacement is found Oncetesting to establish how much better the material testing how it calecsales to agoodgood a protectiprotvectivee being term present time At the present the only material weknow lining tein protection is our epoxy which wilwlillwillwill give give give give permanent permanent permanent permanent permanent permanent permanent long- long- long- long- long- The iidcal dcal costing system would be permanent cost centing which coild coild coild bo bo applied within the lathe line operation of . 86 prosent Regardless tion are currently him it protection could not state that Regardless of what complete ccomplete omplete cabing provided sal volve insertion make this practically impossible the forming machinmachiene system is dep slegisl^egi^ en Field cutting tonuene M. Harris - DH 2 November 30 1957 The ideal solution to the cyerall problem would be to make the portland ofment binler system insoluble or to substitute on insoluble binder system There haa boca extensive work done on making an insoluble inorganic binder systca systca without success All of the note organic which would be suitablsueitable for binders potable water are prohibitively expensive in a 1-M1 typo Exploratory work is continuing in this area at the rate of azza 1-1 of year The general ecigany program accounts for Mazza to one man pipe mmaan n team terms per this More effortein be applied to this program by the stop other The people that have competence work are currently working on the department but only in the technologies if up involved Filament Wound Fittings Filament Overwrapped Thermoplastic Reinforced Plectics Lined Pipe High Temperature TITE & Insulina The particular people involved number of effort rould significantly curtail 5 man terms one or more of Any significant these projects 1 diversion jtd cot , ~S F. Jr. F. J. Solon Jr. D. L. Hizon - G. R. RR.. Wall - ES J. E. Hesse - DXL P. E. Dix DH D. C. a 2. O. C. J. File ie e a a t December 22 1967 Mr. Laland J. McCabe Chief Disease Studies Water Supply & Sea Resources Program Department of Health Education & Welfare 222 East Central atl Cincinnati Ohio 45202 aa amecitiatd Dear Mr. McCabe ade Se I have received a copy of your letter of December , 1967 forwarded to me by Mr. H. M. Jackson Our Research Center has begun a comprehensive investigation into the wear characteristics of asbestos pipe when used in drinking water service We are attempting to include an examination of the Memphis Tennessee situation We will gladly furnish you with pertinent details developed from these studies Preliminary results from our research efforts ; should be available in about two months We will contact you as soon as significant date have been obtained Very truly yours EMF ams te / bec C. B. Burnett - GHQ A. C. Smith D. L. Hinmon - DHQ F. J. Solon - GHQ W. P. Raines - GHQ M. Harris - DHQ F. L. Pundsack E. M. Fenner Director Environmental Control St. Luke Hospital 11311 Shaker Boulevard Cleveland Ohio 44104 File & C Decenler 14 1367 Mr. Leland J. McCabe Chief Disease Studies Water ply and Sea Resources Program Department of Gealth Education and Welfare 26 Bast Central Parkway Cincinnati Ohio 45233 Dear Mr. McCabes McCabes I have forwarded your letter of December 7 Penner Director of Environmental Environmental Control ter Finderne New at our to Mr. E. N. Research Cen- you have raised Jersey for reply to the specific questions As you may know we have been and the U. 5. Public Health are cooperating with organization in Service through Dr. L. J. ralley's is principally a study of the asbestos industry This study concerned with the biological effects of asbestos resulting from the inhalation exposures encountered in industry The recent opinions expressed by Dr. J. D. as reported in the Nashville Snell JI papers raised some serious questions you in of our Please be assured that we will collaborate your investigation and make the knowledge and Research organisation available to you fully with resources Yours very truly Copy tos B. M. Jackson Director of Industrial Relations Mr. B. M. Fenner Finderne ae bes C B. Burnett ee G. W. Wright M.D. l eee D. L. Hinson P. J. Solon ee W. P. Raines eee M. Harris eae Please to all see attached note receiving copy of _ this letter Attachment to H. M. Jackson's to Leland J. McCabe Dept. of letter of 12/14/67 H. E. & W. Cincinnati Ohio Note to C. G. E. A. D. F. W. M. B. Burnett W. Wright M.D. M. Fenner C. Smith L. Hinmon J. Solon P. Raines Harris 12/14/67 By phone contact on December 13 Dr. Cralley advised me was aware of the Nashville situation fact had been make comments for Dr. Murray Brown's use and signature that he asked to He indicated the essencoef health hazard potential via the the comments were that the asbestos routes of inhalation and ingestion were two totally different situations Substantial dosages over long periods of time were necessary to produce ill effects by inhalation In his opinion it was inconceivable that sufficient fibre intake could be accomplished through the ingestion route alone and particularly so when related to the water intake capacity of humans He also expressed an opinion that a pH which would attack the cement would also attack and modify the fibre Dr. Cralley does not know whether the comments were forwarded Although Dr. Cralley does not know L. J. McCabe personally he will contact him and advise him of the current asbestos industry study and our relationship with the Department H. M. Jackson P. S. - Copy of L. J. McCabe's letter of December 7 1967 is attached DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH EDUCATION AND WELFARE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE NATIONAL CENTER FOR URBAN AND INDUSTRIAL HEAL TH 222 EAST CENTRAL PARKWAY CINCINNATI OHIO 45202 REFER TO December 7 1967 Manville Company 22 East 40th Street New York New York 10016 Gentlemen We have had an inquiry from a local the carcinogenic effect of asbestos drinking water health officer about from C pipe in We will decide about the effects of ingested asbestos but would like to know if you have any data about the amount of asbestos that might occur in drinking water How much is introduced during pipe repairs and tapping Does solution of the calcium out of the cement into the water release asbestos fiber Do you know anything about a report -that near Memphis Tennessee there was riod in one locality where the pH in the water was a pe10 or 11 and this resulted in a solution in the cement compon- ent of the pipes to such an extent that milky- that we have been asked about the water became I will appreciate your comments on this problem Sincerely yours * ; ---- ra Leland J. McCabe Chief Disease Studies Water Supply and Sea Resources Program ~ SAINT LUKE'S HOSPITAL : , of the Methodist Church 11311 SHAKER BOULEVARD CLEVELAND Ouro 41101 a . November 30 1967 _Mat Mr. Clint Burnett President Manville Corporation 22 East Fortieth Street New York New York . 10016 Dear Clint The following is with regard to the apprehension voiced by i James D. Snell Jr. M.D. of the Vanderbuilt University Hospital with regard to the potential hazard of asbestos fiber in the drinking water from asbestos cement pipe systems The current state of our knowledge is essentially as follows . oe In some reports there has been a suggestion that gree gastrointestinal cancer may be higher in some groups who have been quite et heavily example exposed to the inhalation of asbestos fiber as for the ser . pas insulation workers and some of the textile plants It is assumed dewirm that the fiber which enters the gastrointestinal tract is that e ane which has been deposited on the mucous surfaces of the nose and ters trachea and bronchi from whence it is brought up to the back of re the throat on a mucous layer and swallowed Some of course may be swallowed with drinking water of contaminated glasses or from the surface of the teeth or mouth cavity I do not know of anyresponsible investigator including Cuyler Hammond who believe that there has been a clear demonstration of a higher incidence death of intestinailntestinal cancer in a relationship withasbestos fiber exposure via these routes There has been demonstrated an unusually high incidence of peri- 12/812/8 12/8 grow for Selikoff Study estades estades toneal mesothelioma cancer of the surfaces covering the intes- tinal tra in workers exposed to the inhalation of fiber as for Mo Mo examples involved in insulation work and in textile manufacture not same not to be true in populations which on first glance may Mmately exposed to the inhalation of fiber as for example of the natives in certain parts of South Africa who j do not actually work in the mines and mills and some of the people who live parts of the London area where the handling of asbestos fiber is goographically prominent That some of these or perhaps high rate all have had a moderately heavy exposure to the inhalation of ; relatedto related asbestos fiber seems likely because of environmental circumstancos with which you are familiar In any event they can scarcely be considered chance or occasional exposures to the fiber My pur- pose in citing these points is that there is every reason to believe Mr. Clint Burnett November 30 1967 that whatever carcinogenic effects asbestos fiber may have it is a dose related one Most assuredly there is as yet no evidence to the contrary The question which is most pertinent now is whether or not the quantity of fiber over a period of time to make it reasonable that might be shed from transite pipe would contaminate the water sufficiently to think that in a lifetime of use of water from such sources a person might ingest enough fiber to conceivably be carcinogenic I asked Dr. Spiel whether he had any information on the weathering of transite pipe and he informed me that although they are I understand from making such a other sources study he has no information as yet that under some circumstances the inner surface of transite pipe becomes coated with lime and that the surface immediately in contact with the water flowing through the pipe soon becomes that of lime and not asbestos cement at all We therefore do not know the actual potential for fiber intake by way of the gastrointestinal tract through the media of ingested water I think most would speculate with me that the number of | fibers would be very small and far lower than the number of fibers inhaled brought back up and swallowed by workers who process and fabricate the fiber and utilize it If we know that the workers of this latter sort have no increased incidence of gastrointestinal risk of cancer production from drinking clearly demonstrated cancer I would think the water would be even less by a factor of several thousand One other point deserves some mention While we believe the carcinogenic effects of some kinds of asbestos fiber are dose related there is also evidence that there is a long lag period between the deposition of the asbestos fiber and the ultimate development of the tumor This means that over a span of many years the important dose relationship is probably only in the first part of a person's life Hence any lifetime ingestion is important in terms of those years prior to the last ten or fifteen years preceding the development of the tumor Some of this last thought is speculative and I offer it only as a matter to consider I took the liberty of calling Dr. Murray C. Brown Chief of the Occupational Health Program in the National Center for Urban and Industrial Health in Cincinnati about this matter I wanted to learn from him whether or not the Public Health Service had an official attitude towards asbestos cement pipo He told me that they were in receipt of a letter from the same Dr. Snell and also Dr. Distowish of Nashville Tennessee to whom a copy of Dr. Snell's letter to Mr. Lawrence had been sent He told me that they have Mr. Clint Burnett November 30 1967 answered both of these letters saying essentially that the department does not have an official position at this time that it has given it some consideration that it seemed to them the risk was very much lower in the matter of water contamination than in the known problem of air contamination and that they were not in a position even now to make an official statement one way or another He also told of the letter to Dr. Snell that there is a pipe and it is his impression that asbestos me not as a part list of acceptable cement is on that I hope these comments will be of some help to you With best wishes GWW kal Copy Karl V. Lindell Sincerely yours J^...rge J^...rge J^...rge & George W. Wright M.D. Head M^'dical Research Department : . FROM JACK SOLON This list shows our asbestos pipe has been installed since 1932 We're having Hill & Knowlton check rates of stomach cancer in those cities checked | ee pesoe je a ~~ TRANSITE PRESSURE PIPE IM ACCEPTANCE - PERFORMANCE PD ACCEPTANCE through continued use is another way of proving that TRANSITE PRESSURE PIPE performs effectively and efficiently Typical examples of the thousands of communities using TRANSITE the following partial list of large cities which which have many with it PIPE are yearosf found in experience Each one has its own particular problems which TRANSITE is is solving but all without exception are benefiting from its long life and overall economies which are achieved at the most reasonable investment levels possible for water works improvements 0. A. Wirsig Partial List of Municipalities Using TRANSITE Water Pipe City & State Footage Used Since Phoenix Arizona Tucson Arizona Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power California San Diego California Long Beach California Palo Alto California East Bay Mun Utility District Oakland California Pensacola Florida 501,000 532,300 532,300 924,780 924,780 515,350 373,820 1,159,740 144,429 144,429 1938 1935 1936 . 1934 1939 1936 @ 1933 1941 Miami Florida _ Peoria Illinois Wichita Kansas New Orleans Louisiana East Jefferson Parish Wat District 1 Louisiana Wks Lake Charles Louisiana New Bedford Massachusetts Saginaw Michigan Great Falls Montana Wilson North Carolina Lima Ohio Ontario Oregon Providence Rhode Island Knoxville Tennessee San Antonio Texas Lubbock Texas Olympia Washington Winnipeg Canada 133,996 521,721 656,000 1,042,000 372,000 57,065 279,134 116,000 164,344 164,344 135,135,86 18356,8666 500,000 684,377 684,377 210,909 392,000 603,000 250,000 1936 1941 1948 1945 1941 1939 1934 1933 1943 1937 1937 1935 1937 1938 1938 1938 1937 1932 * Through 1957 MANVILLE PIPE DIVISION November 1958 CARL THOMPSON Vice President HILL AND KNOWLTON INC Public Relations Counsel 150 EAST SECOND STREET NEW YORK N. Y. 10017 212-697-5600 December 6 ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH UNIT 1967 Mr. W. P. Raines Director of Public Relations Manville Corporation 22 East 40th Street New York N.Y. 10016 Dear Bill Attached is a report from data of the U.S. Office of Vital Statistics concerning trends in stomach cancer for the U.S. and selected cities The report essentially merely sets forth factual data from these statistics Considerable differences from year to year in the same cities and between cities will be noted and should be expected from data of this type Where there is an up down and up or a down up and down for the three years __ within the same range there probably is no significance in these changes at all Also it should be remembered that generally speaking urban areas report a higher incidence of cancer of all types with the exception of skin than do , the more rural areas The table giving mortality ratios for stomach cancer in the U.S. shows a steady downward trend from 1947 to the present Since this is the average for the entire country obviously some sections will show higher and some lower inci- dence than for the U.S. as a whole Data for the individual cities is not available prior to 1960. However any marked deviation from the U.S. trend since 1947 would show up in abnormally high figures for a particular city -- which does not appear in any of the cities listed keeping in mind that the city incidence is going to be higher generally than the national average as compared with the rural incidence For example Providence R.I. which shows the highest percent stomach cancer is still not out of the range that produces the U.S. average These figures clearly show especially in the percentage of stomach cancer deaths to total deaths that there is basically very little difference in trends among the cities even though the ranges from the lowest averages to the highest averages are fairly noticeable You will also note that there are three random cities thrown in -- Toledo Louisville and Birmingham -- which are left in because they show that the fluctuations or lack of it in the cities you gave me are not unusual It HILL AND KNOWLTON INC Mr. W. P. Raines December 6 1967 Page 2 might be wise to pick a few more cities of this type and drop in to further illustrate these fluctuations since a couple of your cities do not look good if you just consider the figures and nothing else Of course the finest pair is the Knoxville comparison which as you will note we have given in a separate table Sincerely - ) sdd Enclosure Carl Thompson Data Relating to Stomach Cancer During the past 20 years there has been a unique and marked drop in the mortality from stomach cancer in the United States The decline in stomach cancer mortality since 1947 has been steady and consistent as represented by the following table showing U.S. death rates per 100,000 population for Malignant neoplasm of digestive organs and peritoneum not specified as secondary Source National Office of Vital Statistics U.S. Public Health Service Year I Table Cancer of Digestive Organs Death Rate per 100,000 population 1947 55.2 1952 53.4 1957 51.7 1962 1965 last year figures available ; 1966 estimated 49.5 48.7 48.4 Since 1960 the Office of Vital Statistics has listed mortality data from various cities in the United States These are not death rates but actual numbers of deaths However comparable figures are given for the United States as a whole Table II Deaths from 60 Selected Causes for the United States Year 1960 1962 1964 Total Deaths -- All 60 Causes 1,711,982 1,756,720 1,756,720 1,798,061 Cancer of Digestive Organs Number of Deaths 91,035 92,047 93,158 * All Deaths 5.3 5.2 5.1 -2- -2- The decline in the death rate from stomach cancer is reflected in the consistently smaller percentage every two years of stomach cancer deaths related to all deaths from the 60 major causes here are figures for four cities in Tennessee By way of comparison Table III Deaths from 60 Selected Causes for Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas City Nashville Tenn Year Total Deaths -- All 60 Causes Cancer of Digestive Organs Number of Deaths % All Deaths 1960 1962 3,675 3,753 129 155 3.5 401 Knoxville Tenn Memphis Tenn Chattanooga Tenn 1960 1962 1964 1960 1962 1964 1960 1962 1964 3,038 3,006 3,180 ; 5,476 5,476 5,971 5,975 2,661 2,683 2,683 2,842 2,842 2,842 131 132 125 247 271 279 114 109 103 4.3 4.3 3.9 4.5 4.5 4.7 4.3 4.1 3.5 It will be noted that the percentage figures for the Tennessee cities are lower than those for the United States as a whole and generally comparable However in Nashville and Memphis the percentage of stomach cancer deaths to all deaths has shown a slight rise while in Knoxville and Chattanooga the rate has been following the national trend -3- It will be noted that the percent of stomach cancer to all cancer varies from above to below the national average but generally they follow the national trend Trends in other selected cities are shown in Table IV Table IV City Los Angeles Calif Providence R. I. San Antonio Texas San Diego Calif Year 1960 1962 1964 1960 1962 1964 1960 1962 1964 1960 Wichita Kans 1964 1960 1962 1964 Total Deaths -- All 60 Causes 58,601 61,353 64,931 7,872 7,947 8,087 5,042 5,042 5,427 5,427 5,411 7,616 7,924 8,448 2,368 2,493 2,573 Cancer of Digestive Organs Number of Deaths 3,110 3,105 3,316 535 570 532 241 287 274 362 463 453 103 91 120 % All Deaths 5.3 5.0 5.1 6.7 .7 6.5 4.7 5.2 5.0 4.7 5.8 5.3 4.3 3.6 4.6 Lubbock Texas 1960 1962 1964 1,021 937 1,100 25 29 31 2.4 3.1 2.8  City Year Miami Fla 1960 1962 1964 New Orleans La 1960 1962 1964 Peoria Ill 1960 1962 1964 Saginaw Mich 1960 1962 1964 Toledo Ohio 1960 Louisville Ky 1962 1964 1960 1962 1964 Birmingham Ala 1960 1962 1964 Table IV continued Total Deaths -- All 60 Causes Cancer of Digestive Organs Number of Deaths 8,389 9,409 10,092 8,918 8,910 9,334 503 545 575 422 396 422 2,675 2,585 2,585 2,691 142 130 152 1,629 1,737 1,655 4,711 4,758 4,758 4,769 69 89 89 247 266 296 6,915 348 7,121 336 7,301 341 5,987 253 6,192 247 6,390 258 * All Deaths 6.0 5.8 5.7 4.7 4.4 4.5 5.3 5.0 5.6 4.2 5.1 5.4 5.2 5.2 5.6 6.2 5.0 4.7 4.7 4.2 4.0 4.0 To my knowledge there have been no reports in medical literature of studies that indicate any relationship between intestinal cancer and the drinking of water supplied through an asbestos pipe water system George W. Wright M.D. Medical Consultant to Manville Corporation 1212//66//6677 __ TELETYPE MESSAGEMESSAGE e : SEND WESTERN UNION OROYALLOCAOTIRON LEANS _ DR.DR.G G.W W. RIGW HT HOTEL NEW ORLEANS LA DO NOT WRITE OR TYPE IN THIS SPACE FURTHER THOUGHT RE MONDAY TRIP WE HAD 10:00 AM PHONE DATE WITH YOU MONDAY TO GO OVER ASBESTOS POSITION PAPER WOULD YOU CONSIDER TAKING EARLY MORNING PLANE MONDAY MEET WITH US ON POSITION PAPER BEFORE GETTING WITH PIPE DIVISION PERSONNEL AND NASHVILLE GROUP WILL BE HOME FROM NOON ON SUNDAY AWAITING YOUR CALL RE MONDAY PLANS PRINT OR TYPE - BE BRIEF WHY FILE THIS Form 3-11C v4 F. J. SOLON , JR SENDER i MANVILLE X43001 RESP No. 1963621KV 1963621KV LAJME ete ALT Te , NASHVILLE rit TENN THURSDAY AFTERNOON NOV 30 1967 ae = WAsabrensitnogsSCoeumnednetd ipnipe By DICK BATTLE Health and medical authorities have warned Metro Director of lowing Water and Sewerage Services Robert L. Lawrence Jr. that substitution of asbestos pipe for cast iron water mains may create a medical heard heard He told the council on Nov.struction 21 however it was very possible no tangible results will come from it the work trip but urged they make the over night junket in a company plane though it is common practice | in many cities we would be un- i{ wise to change our specifica- | to allow asbestos pipe to compete in the bidding until the fill facts can be ascer- tained I intend to pursue this matter with public heatlh officials to see if this pipe has some safety features of Nov.struction which make it connon- hazardous | Dr. Bistowish Dr. Bistowish wrote the fol- letter on Nov. 17 in response to communication from | years Lawrence said his rejection of the asbestos pipe was based primarily on past successful experience with cast iron pipe without noticeable deteri- oration and its advantages over } the lighter pipe for use in rocky scil | Be Resolved | The point which you have raised is of course recognized of serious importance and if there should be any doubt in the minds of competent mem- bers of the medical and engi- at no cost to themselves and Dr. Snell neering professions a matter also invited newsmen and Me- Following your telephone call of this nature should always be fro officials to sign up for the relative to the use of asbestos _ resolved in such a manner as to free trip Copies of the two pipe for water systems I con- remove any doubt whatsoever of significant degree ters from Doctors Snell and tacted the Engineering Division Lawrence in response to ques- tions Asbestos has been fairly well established in medical circles as causing a high incidence of cancer in the lungs or gastro- intestinal tract one letter to Lawrence stated A copy of the letter was also sent to Council man James J. LaPenna chairman of the council's purchasing committee who has urged broadening water pipe specifications to include bidding by asbestoscement pipe manufacturers Warning Dr. The warning expressed by Dr. James D. Snell Jr. assistant professor of medicine Vanderbilt University and by Dr. J. M. Bistowish Metro director of health follows efforts by Councilman LaPenna on Nov. 21 to promote an all expense paid trip for councilmen to visit the research center of an as- cement pipe manufac- turer 30 minutes outside New York City For many years Lawrence has insisted on the use of cast 14 Bistowish dated Nov. and 17 respectively were mailed to La- Penna Dr. Snell's letter to Lawrence states read with great concern the council's recommendation that Metropolitan Government write their specifications on water pipe to allow asbestos ment to competitively bid was aware nor apparently are many medical people aware that asbestos containing pipe has been used in water systems Asbestos has been fairly well established in medical circles as causing a high incidence of cancer in the lungs if breathed or in gastrointestinal tract if swallowed swallowed even in mounts mounts small enough to be visible only microscope Regardless of who is using it now and regardless of any reassurances by salesmen from asbestos pipe manufac- turers I would consider it a medical hazard of significant degree to use such pipe in a of the State Board of Health and was informed while they would prefer not to have asbestos pipe used there was no prohibition against it and such pipes are used in some parts of the country I can find no one at the state level who has knowledge of any adequate studies to rule out health hazards from the use of asbestos piping I have written for information from the U.S. Public Health Service and to the National Center for Urban and Occupational Health to determine if they have knowledge of studies being made on this material It may interest you to know that in one area near Memphis ph parts hydrogen of the water was about 10 or 11 and com- plaints from residents were re ceived that the water was milky Investigation revealed that the lime had been dissolved from a cement component of the pipe and constant flushing had to be continued to keep the pipes clear tions said LaPenna had been furnished with copies of all correspondence from Drs Snell and Bistowish and his Lawrence's reply and addition to engineer ing consultants reports and findings relative to comparisons of cast iron pipe and asbestos- cement pipe The director of sewerage services said he had hoped LaPenna would reveal to the council his committee and the public the re- ports correspondence and information relevant to the pipe controversy Today the Metropolitan Clerk's office reported LaPenna and the other councilmen have signed up for the New York trip offered by the pipe manufacturer The councilmen making the trip with LaPenna are Raymond Buchanan Frank Griffin John Driver Earl Shacklett John Fox Robert McBride Mansfield Douglas Paul Blankenship Martin Garrett and Thomas Sharp iron pipe for the local water water system until the U.S. Pub- Very Possible | e system He has informed La Health Service had checked It seems very possible that if Penna he does not consider as out completely Without spe- the cement were removed from cement pipe comparable cific clearance by the Public the pipes the asbestos might 1 durability to cast iron pipe Health Service it seems to me also be found in the water am LaPenna has not insisted that the burden of common sense trying to secure additional in- asbestos pipe be in- would suggest that it is impos formation about this episode - stalled in the Metro water sible sys- to work on the pipe or Copies of this letter were sent em He has urged that add specifi- to it without releasing par- to Lawrence and LaPenna cations be rewritten to allow ticles of asbestos into the water Replying to Dr. Snell's letter bidding by asbestos If any particles were released of Nov. 14 Lawrence thanked current medical manufacturers or suppliers as knowledge sug- him and stated " do not be- * means of forcing lower bids gests that a rise in certain types lieve I had known that asbestos from castiron pipe manufactur- of cancer could be expected in was conducive possibly to can- about 20-50 ers Lawrence has said he will years among the cer in the intestinal tract or in not approve use of the pipe and population the lungs However inasmuchi changing specifications under I have a premonition that as it is possibly a silicate I these circumstances is not such things as water pipe may am able to see that it might . honest naonty Uh.aSv.e Putbolibce HecalletahreSderwviitceh cause irritation both in the Work Trip agency except those to make mucous membrane of the lungs The trip for councilmen to the sure bacteria cannot penetrate and the anticons anembrane of castern research center of an the pipe If so there has been the stomach and intestines This asbestos pipe manufac- a terrible mistake made in al is highly interesting information turing firm is a work trip LaPenna states to gain infor- mation about the product lowing use of asbestos containing pipe in water systems It is my opinion that al- and very pertinent to the prob lem with which I am how con fronted and which however has arisen off aud for many Jackson H. Jackson Jackson gut gut SCHEDULE CITY OF NASHVILLE VISIT Ilonday - December 11 1967 Depart Nashville 8:00 CST Arrive Newark 12:30 EST Following customers will be our guests Ir Janes J. La Penna - Mr. Frank Griffin - Mr. Mansfield Douglas III Hr Earl Shacklett - Mr. Paul Blankenship Mr. Martin Garrett f Mr. Thomas Sharp - Chairman of Purchasing Committee Councilman Metropolitan Gov't of and Davidson County and Nashville Member of Purchasing Committee and Councilman tt " " 13 1 It " tt " | " It } it " " v tt It th " ] " " " 1 = It " = = $ Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Raymond Buchanan John Fox Robert NicBride John Driver Metropolitan Councilman 11 tf | 1 If Ww tt 11 Mr. James Squires Mr. Richard Penuel Reporter - Nashville Tennesseeian - Reporter - Station ULAC Group will proceed direct from Newark to the Doral Hotel in the jurray Hill Room at 2:00 PH Meeting will begin H Personnel in attendance II M. Jackson D. L. Ilinmon F. J. Solon W. P. Raines M. Harris J. F. Baker 11. V. Watson K. R. Augst W. J. Hayes Dr. George Wright M. D. Agenda 2:00 2:10 2:45 Welcome and Introductions H II Ilarris Introduce Hugh Jackson who will introduce Dr. Wright Medical uestion Dr. Wright comments and questions History of TRANSITE in U.S. - J. Baker Growth of A.C. Industry - J. Eaker Introduction to film Underground Arteries Briefing of Dinner Plans and Outline of Tuesday Schedule Close by II V. Watson 2 7:00 Dinner - Japan Kobe Steak House 145 West 495 Street Tuesday December 12 1967 00AH 7:30 Approx 10:30 10:45 Breakfast - Doral Hotel Depart for Manville Pipe Plant Plant Tour - II Engel Depart Plant for Research Center Welcome to Research Center - J. Swensen Tour - Winn Corriston 12:45 Lunch - Research Dining Room 00PH Meeting - Ilain Training Room - M. Watson Technical Presentation 3:10 3:15 4:00 Closing Remarks - J. Baker Depart Research for Newark Airport Plane Departure to Nashville JH Personnel in attendance Tuesday F. J. Salon 1. P. Raines H. Harris J. Swensen W. Corriston J. Baker II Watson K. R. Augst W. J. Hayes Background on Visitors Mr. La Penna b fir Blankenship Mr. beg Hr Mr. Mr. Mr. btev) Ir Griffin Shacklett Douglas Garrett Mr. t Mr. Hr ae Chairman of Purchasing Committee - Attorney Vice Chairman of Purchasing Committee Attorney Office Supply and Printing General Contractor Neoto Western Electric Purchasing Garage and Service Station Operator Composing Room - Newspaper Printing Insurance Business Dept. Corp. State Hotel and Restaurant Inspector Used Car Dealer Service Station and listel Operator F CON CON CON I D E N IIAL IIAL IIAL IIAL 5 x Division Headquartes December 6 1967 Asbestes Piela Field Survey Research has completed studies on two separate samplings of water from the supply line res thee rea searr ch c cenh ter These tosta vere condanteadn follows a 3 gallon samples of water vere taken at the source Treatment Plant and at the discanh d oa f tr heg 20e 00 of Transite line b Samples vare then filtered through a .3 micron milapore filter and the residue dried and ashed incinerated Ge The dried residue was then photographed and analyzed by Electron Microscope In both of discharge water a trace of asbestos fibrils were detected But in both sam of p soul rcee was ter the same mintu rat ce e of fibr wasifl ous nd Ne do not concentration presently have the physical capability to make a quantatative analysis of the of these fibrils in the measured volume of water Research estimates it would take from twotofour vecks to set up so that we would have this capability I strongly recommand we take steps to get this done immediately We are getting source water samples and samples from the far extremeties of the dia- tribution system at the following locations 1. Providemas R. I. ~ Imper soft unters 2. Vichita Kansas * known soft waters 4. Long BeaCc al h ar San Diego Cal -friendly relations and long Tramnite history 5. Globe Arizona ~ vell unter source in the west 6. = Southenat Moushis Moushis Deny, Menta, Tenn, any ap ears fiber th This appears to me Maiznat way possible to develoy factual data on the extent if If you agree I will proseed with the districts to obtain the OOVY INY NO It is my DET that Mr. Solon and Mr. Mines will report to Mr. Burnett on the ESE other portion of the - marvey .: the correlation between stomach cancer insidance SOCERIEY and the use of sabeatoe omment nipe in sulented cition I furn thei n wis th h a le istd of rSaOW ar alt with long Tranete histories for this use Ppaaver pr th J. F. Alcag pe SAINT LUKE'S HOSPITAL of the Methodist Church O,\ 11311 SHAKER BOULEVARD a Wy CLEVELAND OHIO 44104 December 20 1967 Mr. F. J. Solon Jr. Manville Corporation 22 East Fortieth Street _ New York New York 10016 Dear Mr. Solon You have asked me to submit to you in written form an en expression of my opinion with respect to certain questions raised by a letter from Dr. James D. Snell Jr. addressed to Mr. Robert L. Lawrence of the Metro Water Department in Nashville Tennessee If interpret Dr. Snell's concern correctly it is based in part on an overinterpretation of incomplete infor- mation with respectto the gastrointestinal system plus some generalizations gleaned from the literature regarding respiratory system cancer and asbestos exposure which he is assuming are applicable to the gastrointestinal system He sets forth the reason for his apprehension in his second paragraph of the letter dated November 14 1967 My response to these follows While it is generally accepted by those who have looked into the matter that there is a relationship between the inhalation of asbestos fiber and the frequency of occurrence of bronchogenic lung cancer in the population occupationally exposed to the fiber the precise mechanism whereby this relationship is mediated is certainly still moot The fact that such a relationship seemed to hold in Great Britain as shown by Merriweather in 1955 but did not appear to hold in a pure chrysotile exposure as shown by Truhan and Braun some years later made it apparent that one could not use the word asbestos in a generic way but would have to take sufficient care to know what kind of asbestos might be implicated At the present moment cro- cidolite seems to be the form of fiber most strongly implicated Further information concerning the mechanism of the relationship was presented by Selikoff and Hammond at the American Medical Association Meeting in Atlantic City in June of 1967. They demonstrated that in their careful F. J. Solon Jr. . December 20 1967 prospective study of a group of insulation workers all of their cases of lung cancer developed in men who were moderate to heavy cigarette smokers and not a single case has developed thus far in a smoker This data strongly suggests that the role of asbestos fiber is as a carcinogen and not a carcinogen in its own right Dr. Snell asbestos causes a high incidence of cancer in the infers that lung but it should be pointed out that this relationship even when taken together with cigarette smoking seems to pertain most supporting eo strongly to insulation workers and there is no evidence to indicate that such a high incidence occurs in all of the other form of occupational exposure The fre- quency from the textile mills of Great Britain does not appear to be as high as in the insulation workers reported by Selikoff The frequency as reported by Enterline more recently in the building products friction materials and the U.S.A. textile plants appears to be lower than in the insulation workers thus far reported I cite this because it seems to me unwarranted to make the inference that asbes- tos fiber in and of itself causes a high incidence of cancer in the lung and from this make the inference that it is a strong carcinogen and must therefore in very small amounts do the same thing to the gastrointestinal system if swallowed To summarize this part in my opinion the current evidence does support the contention that in occupational exposures to asbestos fiber there is a higher incidence of bronchogenic occupational cancer than in non exposures the a carcinogen there is no reliable evidence fiber acts as at this time that asbestos by itself acts as an agent to cause broncho- genic cancer the most likely offending form of fiber is crocidolite and most importantly the effect appears to be dose related as well as related to a long latent period between the onset of exposure and the development of the neoplasm I believe it important to indicate that knowledge of what happens in the lung per se can be transferred to what might happen in the gastrointestinal tract only with the greatest caution if indeed it can be extrapolated at all to any other organ system In the second paragraph Dr. Snell also indicates his belief that there is a high incidence of cancer in the gastrointestinal tract as a result of swallowing asbestos fiber I have difficulty in knowing what he means by the statement even in amounts small enough to be visible only under a microscope Fibers small enough to remain airborne and be F. J. Solon Jr. 7 - December 20 1967 inhaled or ingested are of necessity visible only under a microscope because they are the order of 40 or less microns in length and less than 5 microns in diameter As to total amounts swallowed over a period of years I don't know what the microscope would do in the way of playing a role in estimating this Be that as it may one wonders what evidence he is quoting to indicate a proven high incidence of cancer of the gastrointestinal tract in persons occupationally exposed to fiber Most likely he is referring to a paper forming part of the symposium on biological effects of asbestos held in October of 1964 and published at the end of 1965. This paper by Hammond Selikoff and Churg indicated a frequency of cancer of the stomach small intestine and colon about three times as high as the expected whereas even at that date they were quite careful to indicate that the primary source of their reliable since they say and information was not I quote taken at entirely face value it would appear that asbestos workers have an abnormally high risk of dying ofgastrointestinal cancer However we will refrain from drawing conclusions on this matter at the present time It is of importance that in their most recent paper concerning this general subject and referred to in this letter previously as having been presented at the American Medical Association Meeting in June they con- tinued to be just as cautious They again report that the observed rate of cancer of the stomach colon and rectum in their groups under intensive study was three times the expected but they state and I quote Although this bears out our earlier findings the number of deaths from these causes was so small that we still refrain from drawing any conclusions at this time Certainly Dr. Snell's apprehen- sions nurtured by intestinal cancer his has belief that been proven a high incidence of gastro- to occur as a result of the ingestion of asbestos fibers would seem unwarranted Since the relationship to bronchogenic cancer appears to be rather clearly a dose related one and the same for all known carcinogens I would think that if any is true associ- ation between asbestos fiber and gastrointestinal cancer exists it should be dose related The insulation workers that are constantly under study by Selikoff et al are obviously a quite heavily exposed group According emanating from that laboratory as much as population exposure under study has asbestosis and It can be accepted that a very to various reports 25 per cent of the this means a heavy large per cent of : F. J. Solon Jr. December 20 1967 the fibers deposited in the bronchial tree of such workers is brought back up and some of this must of necessity be swallowed In addition some fiber deposited in the oral and nasal cavities will ultimately find its way into the intestinal tract I would reason from this therefore that in the insulation workers the gastrointestinal exposure to fiber would be high and therefore if there was a strong relationship of fiber ingestion to gastrointestinal cancer it should not be difficult to demonstrate it There are some other data in humans bearing on this vi Enterline has recently published a study of the death cer tificates of a large number of workers who manufacture building materials friction products and textiles utilizing asbestos fiber He compared the causes of death in these workers to those of a cotton textile processing group Looking at these data one sees no relationship suggesting an inordinately high frequency of gastrointestinal cancer even when one takes into consideration the factor of dilution caused by including rather large numbers of fairly young and short exposed people Taking all things into consider- ation I do not believe there is substantial evidence at this time to support the contention that even the highest intensity of exposures that we know of in industry lead to clear cut increased frequency of gastrointestinal cancer There is abundant animal experimentation along these lines There have been large scale animal experiments studying the effects of asbestos fibers of various kinds and sizes on the pulmonary systems by exposing the animals to airborne fiber In many of these experiments the inten- sity of exposure and duration was well over two years and sufficient to produce well developed pulmonary fibrosis Such studies carried out in Saranac Lake were to my own knowledge always characterized by careful gross examination of the entire body of these animals and this included the abdominal contents Since receiving information con- cerning the apprehensions of Dr. Snell I have checked on this matter with the Saranac Lake group and in addition with Dr. Forde McIver at the University of South Carolina Utilizing all manner of animals including dogs and with obser- vations going up to two and more years in the mouse and on to four or more years in the dog none of the investigators involved in these studies has ever seen anything whatsoever to suggest intestinal a relationship between or liver cancer in the fiber exposure and gastroexposed animals In fact F. J. Solon Jr. : December 20 1967 to their best knowledge they have never seen a tumor of the gastrointestinal tract in these experimental animals I cite and of this data because necessity swallow such animals do not the fibers that are cough and spit brought back up from the lungs In addition the food especially of the small animals is covered by the settled asbestos fibers in the experimental chambers These experiments are eight as a rule conducted with exposures for six to hours a day five days a week and the food in general is simply added to that which is already in the feeding boxes When fresh vegetables are fed they are placed in the cages in the morning and cleaned out only with the general cleaning of the cages the next day I would estimate that the ingested fiber in these experimental animals far exceeds that of workers in industry In mice the observations were carried out over the lifetime of the animal and for 75 percent or more the Although it expected lifetime in most of the is difficult to extrapolate from other animals animals to man the total lack of any evidence whatsoever that in the exper- ingestion imental animal the of asbestos fiber causes any sort of malignancy in the intestinal tract would seem to me to be important In fact it is this total lack of finding of tumors in the gastrointestinal tract in this type of experiment that has obviated the necessity of setting up a fledged feeding type of experiment I understand that one or two investigators are embarking on this kind of study at the present time although I personally do not see the need for it . It seems to me therefore sions are based on an erroneous that Dr. Snell's apprehen- impression that a high inci- dence of gastrointestinal cancer has been proven to exist in persons occupationally exposed There is evidence that such a relationship does not exist This is both with respect to humans and experimental animals In this context I think it should be emphasized that the intensity of exposure in all of the circumstances alluded to is far higher than one could conceivably expect in the drinking of water from asbestos cement pipe A third type of neoplasm has been implicated recently with the inhalation and consequent ingestion of asbestos fiber Although Dr. Snell did not mention mesothelioma I presume he may have had this tumor in mind also This tumor arises from the lining of the pleura space and abdominal cavity or peritoneum In 1960 Dr. Wagner and his workers at F. J. Solon Jr. - December 20 1967 that time working in a hospital that serviced a rather dis- persed population noted an unusual frequency of occurrence of mesothelioma in the patients admitted to their hospital In the general population as will be indicated later this tumor is one of the exceedingly rare ones and hence the occurrence of only a few cases in a single hospital within a short period of time was rather dramatic and required further investigation Wagner and his workers learned that a factor common to all of their cases was either a history of having worked for a long period of time in the production of asbestos fiber or having had rather intimate contact with it over many years The industrial contact being a strong one in that such individuals had picked short fiber from the tailings heap had walked or ridden on roads constructed of asbestos rock or had washed the clothes of asbestos workers in the mines and mills frequently * over many years Subsequent investigations in the South African asbestos producing regions indicates quite clearly that this unusual frequency of mesothelioma occurred only in those areas producing crocidolite and the chrysotile areas failed to show this unusual frequency of producing mesothelioma It was of some interest too that not all crocidolite producing areas showed a high frequency of meso- thelioma Subsequent to this disclosure an unusual frequency of mesothelioma has been unearthed in Great Britain where at the present time I am told a total of 276 cases of meso- thelioma in the entire British Isles have been located I do not know over how many years this accumulated Even at this number it series of continues cases to be were a rare tumor Retrospective exploration of the life in these identified cases of mesothelioma has experiences shown a bona fide exposure to the inhalation of asbestos fiber such as in the asbestos textile industry the unloading of efimbpelroymaetntthe docks or handling of the fiber en route to the mills etc. in majority of the cases In some instances has not been demonstrated but direct employment in such a way than casual contact with fiber has been disclosed asugchreaas terliving in the immediate neighborhood of industrial operations known to disperse fiber into the general environ- ment or washing of clothes of a member of the family employed in the asbestos industry In the few remaining cases in the light of the great difficulty of disclosing asbestos fiber exposure by retrospective methods involving questioning of relatives etc. it is highly probable that an actual greater than casual contact with fiber did occur in all More recently a greater than ancitipated frequency of occurrence of meso- thelioma has been disclosed in insulation workers and there -7- F. J. Solon Jr. December 20 1967 is some evidence rather strongly suggesting the same is true in at least some of the asbestos textile employees of the U.S.A. In all of these exposures crocidolite is again to be found As was true in the chrysotile exposures of in South Africa a study of the milling of this type similar asbestos exposures of fiber in the Canadian pro- duction area has failed to disclosed any unusual frequency of mesothelioma A careful study of the Finnish population exposed to anthopholite also has failed to disclose a single case of mesothelioma In addition to a strong suggestion that crocidolite is the agent implicated in some way with the occurrence of mesothelioma there is evidence to suggest that this tumor likewise is dose related In all of those situations where the exposure can be relatively well documented the occurrence of mesothelioma has been in persons not only exposed to crocidolite but also the exposure has been greater than casual even though this tumor apparently has occurred in the absence of sufficient exposure to cause actual pulmonary asbestosis It would appear that the total exposure may be somewhat less than that needed to relate strongly to bronchogenic carcinoma nevertheless the exposure is still one that is much greater than casual By casual exposure I mean the kind of exposure which might occur in persons not working or living daily in contact with known sources of asbestos fiber dissemination The finding of ferruginous bodies in the majority of the adult population whose lungs come to necropsy examinations suggests rather strongly that the entire population of the civilized world exposure to the inhalation of fibers one can reasonably assume asbestos should be has though amongst which included The finding of these fibers in fibers most assuredly have the lungs indicates that been swallowed and hence such enter the gastrointestinal tract in some as yet unknown numbers In spite of this probable uniform type of casual exposure to asbestos fiber Selikoff Churg and Hammond report in the New England Journal of Medicine Volume 272 page 560 in 1965 that of the 31,652 persons who were known to have died between the ages of 30 and 89 years and who were members of a follow of 1,048,183 persons only three had died of mesothelioma of the pleura and none of mesothelioma of the peritoneum In the light of what we now know it can be assumed that 50 per cent or more of these 31,652 persons who died must have had at least enough exposure to fibers F. J. Solon Jr. December 20 1967 some of which were doubtless asbestos to cause ferruginous bodies It can be further assumed that some unknown quan- tities of asbestos fiber were ingested during their entire lifetime beginning with the application of body powder Since only three subsequently developed . it is clear that some quantity of asbestos fiber dusting mesothelioma ingestion is well tolerated even for life There is further evidence along this line which will be presented next spring by Dr. William E. Smith and his workers Pleural mesotheliomata have been produced by the injection of asbestos fiber and other asbestos materials in the pleural space of experimental animals Smith's group have shown that a progressive attenuation of the amount of asbestos fiber placed in the pleura leads to the development of fewer and fewer mesotheliomata and at the one milligram dose no mesotheliomata developed With this background of information what can be said in a direct fashion about the actual problem which raised information Dr. Snell's apprehensions There is some useful information in this regard One can inquire into the evidence that asbestos fibers are released from asbestos cement pipe It is my understanding that in predeterminable circumstances asbestos cement pipe may develop an inner lining of carbonates completely shielding the original pipe from contact with the water flowing through it In other circumstances the pipe does not in any way disintegrate and therefore releases no fibers You would know better than I as to the possibilities that repair of pipe might at the time release some fibers but I cannot conceive that this occasional type of fiber release if it did occur could be anything other than a casual type of exposure that asbestos cement pipe In some circumstances I am told might slowly lose substance from its inner surface and thus release some asbestos fiber This kind of weathering must be very slow rapid it would be economically unwise to use this pipe under such circumstances With information concerning the volume of water transiting the system the area of the inner surface of the pipe and the rate of weathering it should be possible to make some rough calculations of the total fiber dispersal I would anticipate that the amount ingested would be so low as to be in the casual exposure range where mesothelioma has not developed with an unusual frequency F. J. Solon Jr. a December 20 1967 Even more meaningful to me is the fact that asbestos cement pipe has been in use in water systems throughout the U.S.A. for twenty to thirty years in a rather large number of major urban locations These geographic areas as for example the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power _ in California have medical facilities which are not likely to have overlooked a frequent occurrence of this exceedingly rare tumor In this connection some data are available in regard to cancer of the digestive organs which include the gastro- intestinal tract Data from the National Office of Vital Statistics of the U. S. Public Health Service indicates that from 1947 to 1966 the rate of occurrence of tumor of this body system has dropped from 55.2 per hundred thousand population to 48.4 Substantial amounts of asbestos fiber have been used in various ways from 1930 on in the U.S.A. and one would anticipate that if this fiber was playing a role in the causation of gastrointestinal tumors it might be expected to have led to an increase in tumor rather than the observed decrease For the U.S.A. as a whole and from the same statis- tical source cancer in 1964 to have been of the digestive organs responsible for 5.1 per is reported cent of all deaths pipe has In Los Angeles California where asbestos cement been used in very substantial amounts from 1936 on the reported figure for cancer of as the cause of death is 5.1 per cent digestive in 1964. organs In other cities where asbestos cement pipe has been utilized in the water system for twenty or more years as for example Knoxville Tennessee San Antonio Texas San California Lubbock Texas and New Orleans Louisiana the per cent is less than the average for the U.S.A. and in Providence Rhode Island and Miami Florida it is slightly above the average namely 5.7 per cent I find it difficult to understand the reasoning upon which Dr. Snell bases the last sentence of his third para- graph to the effect that If any particles were released current medical knowledge suggests that a rise in certain types of cancer could be expected about twenty to fifty years among the provide us with population I the information wonder if Dr. Snell might on which he bases his infer- ence that medical knowledge suggests such a development -10- F. J. Solon Jr. December 20 1967 following the release of a few or some determined number of particles into a water system All of the information that I and others have strongly indicates that the relationship between one and neoplasia and asbestos fibers is a to believe that a single fiber can dose related cause a cancer seems incredible The medical literature contains ample evidence that the kind of exposure to fiber experienced by those using the fiber in an occupational way is manyfold that of the general population In the lungs received from persons with several years or more of continous indus- trial exposure to asbestos fiber the number of ferruginous bodies can only be described by the word myriads whereas in the casually exposed lungs it is necessary to digest large parts of the volumes of lung in lung or squeeze the juice from large order to find one or two such ferruginous bodies In those instances where bronchogenic cancer or mesothelioma appear to occur with greater frequency on a population basis the number of ferruginous bodies also appears to be much larger than in those casually exposed I do not believe that Dr. Snell can offer any substantial scientific evidence to indicate that the ingestion of one or a hundred or a thousand asbestos fibers on one or more instances is lioma Most causally related assuredly so few to the fibers development of mesothecannot be related to to gastrointestinal cancer which appears to be his major worry since in individuals known be exposed far more heavily daily over a period of many years there is no acceptable evidence of a higher than anticipated frequency of cancer of this system If Dr. Snell does have such evidence we and others would welcome knowing about it With best wishes Sincerely yours Wright George Jeng W. JengWright M.D. Head, Medical Research Department kal THIS LETTER FOLLOWED A QUERY FROM MR LA PENNA AS SOURCE OF DR SNELL'S PREVIOUS COMMENTS THE VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY NASHVILLE TENNESSEE 37203 _ TELEPHONE 254-5411 Anex 615 an Pr Department of Medicine - School of Medicine a December 6 1967 James J. La Penna 513 Stahlman Building Nashville Tennessee 37201 . ee . Dear Mr. La Penna You are correct in surmising that my statements are based on the medical literature Enclosed are two examples If you care to read further there are 27 references in the 1966 Cumulated Index Medicus which link asbestos with cancer and an additional 14 such references in the 1965 Cumulated Index Medicus They are listed under the heading Asbestosis The relationship of asbestos exposure to cancer of the lung has been well known for several years being listed on page 708 of Rubin's Thoracic . Diseases published in 1961. The original relationships were noted only in people working within industries using a lot of asbestos About six months ago however in a pathology conference we discussed a patient who died of a mesothelioma a malignant tumor and was found to have asbestos fibers associated with the tumor despite never working in industries associated with asbestos exposure Our pathologist stated he was seeing more of these tumors than ever before and in people not working in areas of known exposure We discussed the fact that asbestos was being put into many things these days people and that somehow it seemed to be involving more miners or manufacturers . than just When I saw that water pipe was being made from asbestos it really } upset me The Food and Drug Administration has taken drugs off the market for producing tumors only in experimental animals Yet somehow an agent known to cause cancer in humans has been allowed to contaminate drinking water The only possible defense is that the amount of asbestos each person gets from the water will be so small that only a very rare susceptible individual will develop cancer Do you want to gamble on whether you or your family are the susceptible ones - just to save a little money I do not Respectfully JDS Enclosures James D. Snell Jr. M.D. oe om SPECIAL REPORT .19rneeee . . . \__ . We are grateful to Miss Thibeaudean and Mrs. J. Small . for their technical assistance vo methods of measuringmertcurhy e resistancehaovre sbeneseinof Staph pyogenes to mercury salts Little difference was noted but agar pamreetdhod is preferred as it is technically easierto Resistance to mercury appears to be associ- orwimth antibiotic resistance but no difference in was demonstrated demonstrated lence between the two groups of intracerebral injection of mice The means test may have a place is a screening procedure cury of the relationship between the resistance to iew fe and to antibiotics . cury 1. Moore .: Lancet : 453 1960 20 120 2. 12.. SIMPSON D. Med MBe. det Sael rv LJa. ncCeatna:da736 1013 3. 3. 3. CADNESS .: Brit J. Exp Path 21 311 1940 4. Fisk .: J. Bact 5. D. G. AND CATLIN B. 5. WECKMAN J. 1904 73 747 Mulngit GRIT GRIT ~ GRIT 1957 GRIT GRIT GRIT And ~ .: Amer J. Hyg 27 493 P. 7. 7. HAR1D93E8R M. ITAYBOR J. and Whitpuran E. .; Lanert 21 1120 1919 .; J. A M J. 166 1192 1958 8. BLAIR J. F. AND CARE NY And Sci 65 55 1956 9. ElPx S. .; Ann 1. Brit J. Frp Puth , 38 10. ELEK S. D. AND CONEN ~ - Rev. Cana^ 11. FRA5P7P3IE1R95A7. SONEA S. and Panisset M Biol 14 152 1933 oo eet en en ee | | SPECIAL NEPOMT we cn = ee * eT me remem om TS me me reer | oe eee rast oo Asbestos and Cancer . eRe and Recommendations of a Working Group Convened Under the EF, The ReportAuspices of the Geographical Pathology Committee of the PET International Union Against Cancer oosee EVITOR'S NOTE October 1964 the New York cademy of Sciences sponsored an international meet- the biological effects of asbestos Following on some 40 delegates from Australia Canada is meeting Britain and heland inland France Germany Great invited aly South Africa and the United States were study the vast amount of information which had been resented with a view to the organization of an inter- otional study of asbestos and cancer The terms of ference of this Working Group covered three major spects of the problem epidemiology pathology and sperimental pathology and physics and chemistry The findings of the Working Group and their recom endations arising from these studies are recorded in lightly abridged form in the following report THE ASSOCIATION OF EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS DUST AND CANCER THE main types of asbestos of commercial interest are amosite anthophyllite chrysotile crocidolite and tremolite There is evidence of an Association between exposure to asbestos and malignant neoplasia This has been established mainon information from Germany Italy South Africa the United Kingdom and the United States of America The types of tumours which have been be associated with exposure to asbestos . 1. Carcinoma of the lung . pleura 2. Diffuse mesothelioma of the pleura shown to dust are 7 and peri- toneuin There is some suggestion of an association also with gastrointestinal carcinoma and possibly with ovarian tumours exposure to the The latent period between first dust and detection of the relatedtumours is many usually years 20 ormore Instanges up to years have been reported For this reason further cases of these associated tumours will be expected to occur for many years to come even if dust exposures are now greatly reduced Present evidence indicates that the associated carcinomas of the lung are not limited to exposure of asbestos fibre However further to any one type needed to establish investigations are urgently whether the degree of risk is importantly related to the type of fibre inhaled In the case of mesotheliomas evidence from several countries suggests that exposure to crecido- crecido- lite blue fibre may be of particular ^fimpritance of but it cannot be concluded that only this type is concerned with these tumores and finther fibre is needed investigation of this problem Certain types of asbestos fibres in the virgin state have been found to contain oils waxes and In addition asbestos fibres other organic matter to mining readily absorb hydrocarbons subsequent as Small or trace amounts of various elements such nickel and chromium are also foundtoalessoof csiuach with some types of fibre The possible associated materials in the development development of tumours following following exposure to asbestos dust is not yet clear These findings when consiodferaesdbesitnosrefloartimonan2y the great increase in the use that mise in all countries suggest t t purposes serious and widespread lizard from exposure apreciated may asbestos dustmay exist than is widely appreciated to CONT ny nweer= ee ws . t * OTE . . PoP we . ye me ,. oe . 2% te NASHVILLE TENNESSEAN if DECEMBER KS 1967 we - wenn Councilmen To Go On Pipe Plant Tour | By JIM SQUIRES SEAN which disclosed that ! Nine Metro councilmen will cast iron pipe company leave today for a day in- James B. Clow & Sons has won spection every Metro pipe contract in Newark spection tour of the the last four years \\ N.J. plant of the Johns Through a hodge pat- ville Co. a manufacturer of astern investiga astern of bidding the cement water pipe tion disclosed Clow has gotten The pipe firm has invited the all Metro pipe business while lawmakers in an effort to con two major competitors have vince them that the cheaper been equally successful in| cement product is an Chattanooga and Memphis and adequate substitute for the small towns surrounding ' costly cast iron now being used Nashville in Metro's water system Clow has been the low bidder THE Metro nually cement COMPANY claims Nashville on every contract same can by save 300,000 an while at the same time bidding buying asbestos high on similar pipe in other areas of the state At the pipe time companies bidding high Pin Robert L. Lawrence Metro waterworks director refused Nashville consistently under- con has Clow in towns as close as to allow as- Murfreesboro and sistebntildy cementrefgusoedvernment puring to Columbia chases . ition to the ition He declined the tour the plplaanntt LaPenna has proposed widen- puring specifications to allow com- invita between cast iron and petition asbestos manufacturers Council- Making LaPenna Council- men the James are LaPenna Frank Lawrence has refused to do this saying he has no intention Mans Griffin Earl Shacklett accepting an asbestos field Douglas Martin Garrett company bid no matter how low Thomas Sharp John Fox Rob- the price ert McBride and John Driver LaPenna is chairman of the council's watchdog commit tee on purchasing which is now investigating Metro's pipe pur- chases AT THE LAST council session he distributed a pamphlet which claimed to show the su- perior strength of castiron compared with asbestos The pamphlet was prepared THE COMMITTEE was by the Cast Iron Pipe Research 4 formed and the probe launched Association ! following an investigation by The councilmen will return lo ; THE NASHVILLE TENNES Nashville tomorrow night THE NASHVILLE TENNESSEAN Nashville Tennessee December 12 1967 p.1 a ment manufacturers from bid- ding on Metro waterpipe pur- chases The council committed on Cancer Tie Hif By JIM SQUIRES Staff Correspondent . NEW YORK -- There is no evidence to support a recent statement by a Nashville doc tor that use of asbestos ment water pipe might cause cancer a noted cancer re- searcher said here yesterday purchasing had suggested that Lawrence allow asbestos ment manufacturers to bid be- cause the product is less expensive than the cast iron pipe now being used SNELL WROTE that asbes- tos is a known cause of can- cer and can contaminate drinking water The physician said he did not believe this fact had been brought to the attention of the U.S. Public Health Service Dr. George Wright chair- man of The Institute for Oc- Wright an adviser to the U.S. Public Health Service cupational and Environmental Health said he did not think such a relationship will ever be established WRIGHT HEAD of the de partment of medical research in internal medicine at St. Luke's Hospital in Cleveland Ohio said a letter from Dr. James Suell an assistant pro- fessor at Vanderbilt Univer- sity school of medicine sug- gesting such a relationship apparently arises out of an incomplete perspective of the problem ' Wright spoke to nine Metro councilmen here to tour a Manville plant in Newark N.J. a manufacturer of asbestos pipe Snell sent a letter last month to Metro waterworks director Robert L. Lawrence supporting Lawrence's decision to prohibit asbestor said the asbestos pipe industry had long been aware of a link between certain types of asbestos fibers and lung cancer and with Mesothelioma a rare malignant tunior found on the lung cov ering and the gastrointestinal tract He pointed out however that asbestosis a lung tissue disease and lung cancer are caused only by inhalation of certain asbestos fibers in large amounts and over long periods of time MESOTHELIOMA he said has never been linked positively with swallowed amounts of asbestos and is extremely rare Evidence of research indi- cates that virtually everyone is exposed to asbestos fibers he said In fact it would appear reasonable to assume that there is no such thing as not having been exposed . If mere exposure is a cause - we would all have Wright cited widespread use of asbestos fibers in insula tion electrical wiring and - stove ovens and toasters THERE IS A great upswing in the use of asbestos fiber but the incidence of cancer has actually fallen off Wright said Wright said asbestos pipe consisting of 20 asbestos fiber has been in water systems in some areas for as long as 30 years In many instances he said there is no evidence of wear in these pipes to release as- bestos fiber After this many years of experience if these fibers were to be a source of Meso- thelioma - a dramatic tumor _ it would be known Wright stated THIS WOULD not escape This is not a new point of interest to the industry he added Wright said manufacturers of asbestos products were among the first to discover its possible biological effects and have spent millions of dollars in the field The doctor said he is preparing a written answer to Snell's statement " don't know Snell or his background in this area Wright said but no doctor is knowledgeable in all areas I have spent much of my life in this field and even I am not SNELL WROTE Lawrence Nov. 14 stating he would consider the use of asbestos- cement pipe a medical hazard of significant degree un- til the U.S. Public Health Ser- vice had checked it out com- pletely Officials of the Johns ville Co. asked about this yesterday said the Public Health Service is among its custo- miers We have sold them thou- sands of feet of pipe said Jay Baker product manager I feel certain we will sell them much more THE COUNCILMEN are scheduled to tour the manufacturing plant and research center today The company claims its product will save _Metro 300,000 a year on pipe purchases THE NAONVILL~NAONVILL~ IENNESSLAN, Wednesday UELELE 49,5 1707 ll Foge continued inside Asbestos Pipe Use Backed By JIM SQUIRES Staff Correspondent NEW YORK Metro councilmen recommended yesterday that waterworks di- rector Robert L. Lawrence allow manufacturers of asbescement pipe to bid on Metro pipe purchases The councilmen urged that the bans against the firms be dropped after a tour of the Newark N.J. plant of JohnsMansville Corp. a manufacturer of the asbestos product IT'S A SHAME that a product this good has been kept out of the bidding said Councilman Frank Griffin see no reason why these manufacturers cannot be given the opportunity to bid for our business James LaPenna chairman of the council purchasing committee said the tour of the Mansville facility pro- duced dence overwhelming cement evi- that asbestos pipe is a quality product and widely used throughout the world Joining Griffin and LaPenna in the recommendation were Councilmen Martin Garrett John Fox Mansfield Douglas John Driver Earl Shacklett and Robert McBride A NINTH councilman mak- ing the trip Tom Sharp said he would make no recommen- dation concerning the product pending further investigation Sharp said he wanted to learn as much about the cast iron water pipe now being used by Metro as he learned about the asbestos product during the day visit here The councilmen toured the facility at the invitation of Manville officials at no expense to the government The firm had previously told the purchasing committee it was being excluded from bidding because of Lawrence's opposition to the use of asbescement pipe The purchasing committee has been investigating Metro's pipe purchasing practices Turn to Page 15 Column ) Asbestos Pipe THIS STORY FILED BY JIM SQUIRES FOLLOWING DR WRIGHT'S PRESENTATION Use Backed _ AT THE DORAL HOTEL DEC 11 1967 N.Y.C. Continued From Page One et ated since a probe by THE NASH- VILLE TENNESSEAN disclosed that a single cast iron manufacturer has gotten all Metro water pipe business in the last four years THE FIRM JAMES B. Clow & Son was successful low bidder on all pipe contracts while its three major competitors were equally successful in the state's other major cities Griffin and LaPenna after viewing quality and durability tests of the asbestos pipe said it is apparent Metro has been victimized by a lack of true competition among cast iron pipe com- panies Comparing list prices of asbestos and cast iron pipes LaPenna estimated Metro can save 525,000 over the next 18 months by allowing asbestos manufacturers to bid against cast iron companies am not saying we should switch entirely to asbestoscement or that one product is superior he said It is my personal feeling the two products are comparable and all vendors should be allowed to bid Martin Garrett Our biggest problem is selling it to Mr. Lawrence I personally think we should let the con- tractors buy the pipe and that both cast iron and asbestos- cement companies be allowed to try for the business John Driver " was amazed at the strength and quality of this asbestos ma- terial especially after what we had heard locally I think the company should have the privilege of competitive bidding With expenses continuing to go up it is advantageous to us to save tax money Mansfield Douglas " was quite impressed and am convinced that the pipe is sufficient to carry water under the stress and strain anticipated in Metro's system I see no reaon why these companies are not allowed to bid Rebert McBride I feel there are places where ascement might not work in the local system At the same time there are places where it will do the job as good as cast iron and at a much lower cost With a sewer expansion program as large as ours this is a good place for us to save a substantial amount of money LAPENNA SAID councilmen who toured the plant will present their findings to the full purchasing committee later this month The committee will make recommendations to the council Comments from other coun- cilmen concerning asbestos- cement pipe John Fox were " think these firms have a good product and should be allowed to bid If installed to specifications the nature of the terrain will not matter SCHEDULE CITY OF NASHVILLE VISIT .- Honday - December 11 1967 Depart Nashville 8:00 Arrive Newark 12:30 CST EST Following customers will be our quests Mr. James J. In Penna Mr. Frank Griffin 1 Mr. Mansfield Douglas III - Mr. Earl Shacklett Shacklett I Mr. Paul Blankenship - Mr. Martin Garrett - Mr. Thomas Sharp oy Chairman of Purchasing Committee Councilman Metropolitan Gov't of and Davidson County and Nashville Member of Purchasing Committee and Councilman " If " 10 1 " 11 i 11 T 1 t 14 11 11 11 2 11 11 " " } Et 7 " 11 19 Ww F Mr. Mr. Mr. Ir Raymond Buchanan John Fox Robert IlcBride| John Driver = Metropolitan Councilman - It " ~ It It ~ " 11 Mr. Mr. James Squires Denial - Reporter Ilashville Tennesseelan - Reporter 'Station LAC Group will proceed direct from llevark to the Doral Hotel in the Hurray Hill Roen at 2:00 PM liceting will begin J- Personnel in attendance II D. F. W. M. M. Jackson L. Ilingon J. Solon P. Raines Harris J F. Baker II V. Watson K. R. Augst W. J. Hayes Dr. Goorge Wright li D. Agenda: 2:00 Welcome and Introductions - II Ilarris 2:10 Introduce Hugh Jackson who will introduce Dr. Wright Medical uestion Dr. Wright comments and questions 2:45 = History of TRANSITE in U.S. - J. Baker Grouth of A.C. Industry - J. Eaker Introduction to film Underground Arterieo 3:30 Briefing of Dinner Plans and Outline of Tuesday Schedule 3:35 Close by II V. Watson - 2 7:00 Dinner - Japan Kobe Steak House 145 West 490 Street Tuesday - December 12 1967 7:00 Breakfast - Doral Hotel 30All Approx Depart for Manville Pipe Plant Plant Tour - H. Engel 10:30 10:45 Depart Plant for Research Conter Welcome to Research Center - J. Swensen Tour ~ Winn Conviston 12:45 Lunch - Research Dining Room 2:00 Meeting + Main Training Room - M. Watson Technical Presentation 10PI Closing Remarks - J. Baker 3:15 00PH Depart Research for Newark Airport Plane Departure to Nashville JH Personnel in attendance Tuesday F. J. Solon U. P. Raines H. Harris J. Suensen W. Corriston J. Baker II Watson K. R. Augst W. J. Hayes Background on Visitors Mr. LA Penna Mr. Blankenship Mr. Griffin r Shacklott Ir Douglas Mr. Garrett Mr. Sharp Mr. Buchanan Mr. Fox Mr. McBride Ilr Driver Chairman of Purchasing Committee - Attorney Vice Chairman of Purchasing Committee - Attorney Office Supply and Printing General Contractor Necto Western Electric Purchasing Garage and Service Station Operator Composing Room - Newspaper Printing Insurance Business Dept. Corp. State Hotel and Restaurant Inspector Used Car Dealer Service Station and fotel Operator Paye 1 Thurs. ~ o-oo" THE NASHVILLE BANNER Nov. 30 Page 13 tae t UM 2 Boas Roa 4 Very Possible Asbestos Cement Warning Warning Warning Warning Sounded Warning Warning He told the council on Nov. turers I would consider it a medical hazard of significant degree to use such pipe in a water system until the U.S. Public Health Service had checked it out completely Without specific clearance by the Public Health Service it seems to me It scains very possible that if the cement were removed from the pipes the asbestos might also be found in the water am trying to secure arklitional information about this episode Copies of this letter were sent to Lawrence and LaPenna { By DICK BATTLE | Health and medical authorities have warned Metro Director of Water and Sewerage Services Robert L. Lawrence Jr that " 21 however it was very possible no tangible results will come from it the work trip but urged they make the over- night junket in a company plane at no cost to themselves and the burden of common sense would suggest that it is impos- sible to work on the pipe or add to it without releasing par- ticles of asbestos into the water If any particles were released Replying to Dr. Snell's letter of Nov. 14 Lawrence thanked him and stated " do not be- lieve I had known that asbestos was conducive possibly to can- cer in the intestinal tract or in substitution of asbestos pipe for cast iron water mams ee r may create a medical hazard of significant degree Asbestos has been fairly well established in medical circles as causing a high incidence of cancer in the lungs or gastro- intestinal tract one letter to Lawrence stated A copy of the letter was also sent to Council ~fiman James J. LaPenna chairman of the council's purchasing committer who has urged broad- ening water pipe specifications to include bidding by asbestos . coment pipe manufacturers Warning The warning expressed by Dr. also invited newsmen and Me- tro officials to sign up for the free trip Copies of the two letters from Doctors Snell and Bistowish dated Nov. 14 and 17 respectively were mailed to La- Ponna Dr. Snell's letter to Lawrence states " read with great concern the council's recommendation that Metropolitan Government write their specifications on water pipe to allow asbestos ment to competitively bid I was not aware nor apparently are many medical people aware that asbestos containing pipe has been used in water systems Asbestos has been fairly well established in medical circles current medical knowledge sug gests that a rise in certain types of cancer could be expected in about 20-50 years among the population " have a premonition such things as water pipe not have to be cleared that may with any U.S. Public Health Service agency except those to make sure bacteria cannot penetrate the pipe If so there has been a terrible mistake made in al- lowing use of asbestos contain- ing pipe in water systems It is my opinion that al- though it is common practice in many cities we would be un- wise to change our specifications to allow asbestos pipe to compete in the bidding until the full facts can be ascer- the lungs However inasmuch as it is possibly a silicate I am able to see that it might cause irritation both in the mucous membrane of the lungs and the mucous membrane of ; the stomach and intestines This is highly interesting information and very pertinent to the prob lem with which I am now con- fronted and which however has arisen off and on for many years Lawrence said his rejection of the asbestos pipe was based primarily on past success ful experience with cast iron pipe without noticeabie deteri oration and its advantages over the lighter pipe for use in rocky soil James D. Snell Jr. assistant as causing a high incidence of tained I intend to pursue this Be Resolved . professor of medicine Vander- cancer in the lungs if breathed matter with public heatlh of The point which you have bilt University and by Dr. J. or in gastrointestinal tract if ficials to see if this pipe has raised is of course recognized M. Bistowish Metro director of swallowed even in mounts some safety features of con- of serious importance and if health follows efforts by Coun- small enough to be visible only struction which make it non- there should be any doubt in cilman LaPenna on Nov. 21 under a microscope hazardous the minds of competent mem- to promote an all expense paid trip for councilmen to visit the research center of an as- cement pipe manufacturer 30 minutes outside New York City For many years Lawrence . has insisted on the use of cast iron pipe for the local water : system He has informed La- Penna he does not consider as- bestament bestament pipe comparable | Please Turn to Page 13. Col 1 Regardless of who is using it now and regardless of any reassurances by salesmen from de cement nipe manufac- Dr. Bistowish Dr. Bistowish wrote the fol- lowing letter on Nov. 17 in response to communication from Dr. Snell , . Following your telephone call relative to the use of asbestos pipe for water systems I contacted the Engineering Division of the State Board of Health and _ was informed while they would - prefer not to have asbestos pipe used there was no prohibition hers of the medical and engineering professions a matter of this nature should always be resolved in such a manner as to remove any doubt whatsoever | Lawrence in response to questions said LaPenna had been furnished with copies of all cor- respondence from Drs Snell and Bistowish and his Lawrence's reply and addition to engineer ing commultants reports and findings relative to comparisons of cast iron pipe and asbestos- . in durability to cast iron pipe , LaPenna has not insisted that . asbestos pipe be in- - stalled in the Metro water sys- specifi- tem He has urged that 1 cations be rewritten to allow | bidding by asbestos ' manufacturers or suppliers as a means of forcing lower bids 1 1 from_castiron from_castiron pipe manufactur ers Lawrence has said he will not approve use of the pipe and changing specifications under these circumstances is not honest . Work Trip The trip for councilmen to the castern research center of an asbestos pipe manufac- turing firm is a work trip LaPenna states to gain infor- * mation about the product | against it and such pipes are | used in some parts of the coun- try | I can find no one at the state level who has knowledge * of any adequate studies to rule out health hazards from the use of asbestos piping I have writ- ten for information from the U.S. Public Health Service and to the National Center for Urban and Occupational Health to determine if they have knowledge of studies being made on this material It may interest you to know that in one area near Memphis ph parts hydrogen of the water was about 10 or 11 and com plaints from residents were received that the water was milky . Investigation revealed that the lime had been dissolved from a cement component of the pipe sewerage cement pipe The director of services said he had hoped LaPenna would . re- veal to the council his committee and the public the re- ports correspondence and information relevant to the pipel controversy Today the Metropolitan Clerk's office reported LaPenna and the other councilmen have signed Jup for the New York trip offered by the pipe manufacturer The councilmen making the trip with LaPenna are Raymond Buchanan Frank Griffin John Driver Earl Shacklett John Fox Robert McBride Mansfield, Douglas Paul Blankenship Mar- tin Garrett and Thomas Sharp rie. 1 and constant flushing had to be ' continued to keep the pipes clear s of MetropolitMaentropolitanMetropolitanGovernment Nashville and Davidson County . wok ' . MEMBER OF COUNCIL Pat . rr 2DB COURTHOUSE pot 470 |" NASHVILLE TENNE89K 37201 y wat ee November 24 1967 Mr. K. R. Augst Area | Manager Manville Sales Corp. Pipe Division ee ete Matha COVE SeR e at yo t Marrero Louisiana 70072 ; ; aa (4 a! Dear Mr. Augst oS oa oe 8 we 3 | bat Thank put ; you for your letter of November 22 1967 Please per sta ' + in writing the amount of insurance coverage person and any 7 other details you may wish specifically about your Research plan i; Center and what you * you will take over to show us Once we get on the plane mw is he about _ Can we leave at 8:00 8:00 a.m. Central Standard time on . December 11 1967 and get back to at about 6:00 p.m. 1967 Nashville on December 12 b : o oe a, 7:00 pm . an a +. : : sent 5 - Enclosed is copy of the letter by Dr. Snell to :: Mr. this be Lawrence which your company should know about Any comments - > you might have about sent Mr. Lawrence as. should as to me . oa well sent ae . ; . ; , oe 4 aE cs . - eee Best regards Pana te aa Jum Jum La PanaPana James La Penna Chairman Purchasing Committee JJLaP Enclosure -- ---- --,, b Desist flow b on on Companys . flowdes sypoust Desist Desist Companys y ' wy ; org , t .* BN a at , me " 6 4 ' oy ' , ; , * wa , | 4 we woe . ' t oad i i fy th ; ' mo if! , " oy $ , ij mr 4 nod y . , ' 1 * 2! ros s 7 | apa i I , a sa! t va * i v ' \ ettons. oar) . } a , i an ' 1 rh 4, vhs poate? rrr gly 4 ra ae se c ' t ' fey l Sofe a . t vi . ? a et , t ee ue , t A ws ef rti hi nn rq ./ , ee . . ' *y i : . . r? " pe 5 . c ee J : os aor a -e <f vN i : O - Os ie ii 2 . i | , a oe. : of : . | . a a . : i . rt, 1, . , 5 a F tay van . L tie bet November ogee 1 2 4 14, eee OT ' ! the was Ly ae Perera a ae . ; ; . - . . 1 rd ; - . * ie . f cn ae { oes ee PEE .,a tty tale Beh inet aly ay we oie aon ara ae oy . te, or Oe se e wi a . ae wo 4 ") nes : i ra a ta hay ota es alae , e ete oe mand mg 4 nan is vee tote , t 7 ec. FS nn A ' be tay tae ony oy! wove Sa GS Robert Lawrence Director nS a . t oo. jw: re a a ' Metro J hl Water Department . wool ' a , . f |! ' oy aw a Ve co t Petropolitan Court House a ST Bye Boyes ove, Nashvillo Tennessee 8 ny abe Dear te et Mr. Pe Hut ve ren tha! ge rere a1 aed meray Arai Lawrence yee aE t Ps Dear Mr. Ss Pod Le renee pT ae spe SE et EE me wey ey Hie a pe : - EE ee got ae mn yey : ov OO oan a Pn ee MetropolitaIn read with great concern the council's that recommendation that - rar oad wt une eiee ey, a re, ' ee '. tee rere ye te! an ae i+h, r4 Metropolitan Government write their specifications on water pipe to Sarr allow a Ay ht ghov^'d? nae 78 2 agte |oka : ' sare bestos pipe to competitively bid I was not aware nor apparently 5 wtc4. are many medical people aware ' i that asbestos containing pipe has been used in . on * mes wei 4, water systoms eo Ra ee Mae wo ree containing te .. ote oe os an . fie tas : *) : aon * Asbestos Asbestos se a a or been . moe "po tlt iA vee ote a rae oer a A well ieee ype ie me causing . Asbestos has been fairly well established in medical circles circles as a A ads sh! aed causing a high incidence of cancer in the lungs if breathed or the a : s 50 Pe e G36 ny he visible | ONC oie. "eogastrointestinal tract if swallowed even inamounts small enough to 2 ee ss only under a microscope |. 4 ET Ben BE BER microscope who pha BE now a leh ES a tag om as Me Oe reassurances ape sso SS Regardless of who is using it now and regardless of any reassurances ' |; I Me Sly by the salesman from asbestos pipe manufacturers would consider it 2 gUiN tOpcfe mtohdeicUa.lS.hPauzbalridcoHfeaslitghniSfeircavnitce dhegardeechteocku edseitsucohutpicnoempilneta ewlayteWritshyosuttemspeucniftiic l. -~2., wap og clAearance by the Public Health Service it seems to me the burden of common sense S ahle Vw 2. o fe u Jk "l + rwood lueladsisnugggepsatrtitchlaets itofiassbiemsptoosssible to work on the pipe or add to it without _ , wig YL current modical knowledge suggestisnttohattheawraitseer in Icferatnayinparttyipceslesofwecraencrerelceoausledd ,0. e be Bo pa be certain CES could PL expected in about 20-50 years among the population , yp EE EP Oe goa ten oe EI have premonition among population . Ea not Be 7 Bes I have a premonition that such things as water pipe may not have to bo : * cleared with any U.S. Public Health Service oo, agency except those to make sure +. te> bacteria cannot penetrate the pipe If so there has been a terrible mistake : *s ,0:, 4 made in allowing use of asbestos containing pipe in water systems - Loot ht . . tote 8 ou te re , : It is my opinion that although it is common practice in many cities r 8 : wo would unwise to change our specifications to allow asbestos pipo - to compete in the bidding until the full facts can be ascertained I intend , to pursue this matter with public health officials to soo if this pipe has . af , some safety features of construction which make it hazardous 2 * . i | 3 , . . . . ' . ae fI . . e . . : v . 1 : So 1 - Up aan Ee ' . . . i Respectfully . - ae . | ue t POS ee me ON * *t vote a . 7. mos wht ee Hotes es JOS . _'\./ cc ft tj <0 oi . fy . 7 y ae a " Joseph M. Bistowish JameJs. La Penna . A . . ay | i.) _', v "rt James D. Snell Jr. M.D. ' . Assistant Professor of Medicine mo eee Se M.D. woe a a ee) Metro Metro Nashvill Metro Nashvill Nashvill Metro Metro Indical Divitor Nashvill Divitor Divitor Ey may : ot \ , 4 . ; 5 oe } toe + . oo a Dh, 7 _ 4 yo ay, | soot af . . ~ \ ma on as fy, December December 14 1967 Distare Stquies Water poly and Sea Resources Program Dobaltreat of Health Bturation and Volfaro 22 Mart Central Cincinnati Ohio Parkway 45907 Daar Mr. Hudabei I have forwarded your letter of DeDcember ecember 7 to Mr. C. M. Fcauer Oirector of Environmental Control at our Renca Ce1- Pinderne raised ter you New Jessey raised for ly to the secific questions you may know we have been and are cooserating with the U. C. Public Health Service through Dr. L. J. ralley's org~ ni.ation org~ ni.ation in a study of the asbestos industry Tidy Tidy in sally concerned with the biological effects of boctor resulting from the inhalation biologicalroutereefects in industry The recent opinions expressed by Dr. J. D. Snell J. as reporteidn the Nashvillo sapete raised cone sealous cections you in of our Please be assured that we will collaborate your investigation and make the knowledge and Research organization available available to you Zully with resources Yours very truly Copy to A. M. Jackson Director of Industrial Relations Mr. S. M. Penner Finderce vet 2 C. B. Burnett A. C. Smith D. D. L. Hinnoa F. J. Foloa W. P. kaines M. Harris ) ) ) Please see attached note ) to all receiving copy of this letter ) ) J Attachment to H. M. Jackson's to Leland J. McCabe Dept. of letter of 12/14/67 H. E. & W. Cincinnati Ohio Note to C. B. Burnett G. W. Wright E. M. Fenner M.D. A. C. Smith D. L. Hinmon F. J. Solon W. P. Raines M. Harris 12/14/67 By phone contact was aware of the on December 13 Dr. Cralley advised me Nashville situation fact had been make comments for Dr. Murray Brown's use and signature that he asked to He indicated the essence of the comments were that the asbestos | health hazard potential via the routes of inhalation and ingestion were two totally different situations Substantial dosages over long periods of time were necessary to produce ill effects by inhalation In his opinion it was inconceivable that sufficient fibre intake could be accomplished through the ingestion route alone and of humans particularly so when related to the water intake capacity He also expressed an opinion that a pH which would attack the cement would also attack and modify the fibre Dr. Cralley does not know whether the comments were forwarded Although Dr. will contact Cralley him and does not know advise him of L. J. McCabe personally he the current asbestos industry study and our relationship with the Department H. M. Jackson P. S. - Copy of L. J. McCabe's letter of December 7 1967 is attached