Document Yr53wDnQBgp50ggXv3mNwLJ0K

FILE NAME: Abex (ABX) DATE: 1971 July 31 DOC#: ABX185 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Newspaper Article - Newest Pollution Disovery-Asbestos can be a Killer, with a Cover Letter to the Abex Canada Director of Employee Relations from Dr. Blackwell Mr. Milton Pogsin Director of Employee Relations Rbex Industries of Canada, Ltd. 11988 Caledonia Road Toronto 19, Canada PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT A B-9 - August 13, 1971 Dear Milt: Many thanks for the recent article which your secretary passed on to me at your request regarding asbestos, Canada, Dr. I. Selikoff, and the JohnsMansville Corporation. I know Dr. Tom Davison, the corporate medical director of Johns-Mansville who lives nearby. This fall I shall elicit his views on the problem as known to him and as it related to their difficulties. Dr. Irving Selikoff is well-intentioned, but I personally fear that he is a panic or fear peddler so to speak. When in Elyria, Ohio recently I was amazed to hear him in a half hour Ralph Nader type campaign bllst the asbestos users. This was about 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. I am sure that he literally scared many workers and their families. There is most certainly sane , or a lot of merit to sane of that which he pranotes, but a lot of physicians object to the manner in which he does it by means of fear and a very aggressive policy and especially when he admits that neither he nor the engineers have the solutions to the problems attendant to or with such utilization of asbestos. He actually when to Toronto, to the J.M. plant with all l$f of the necessary field lab equipment so as to perform an industrial hygiene survey of the K.M. plant. He was denied permission to enter and sample or even review their industrial records. He then met again with the union officials, showed them movies and reportedly left a 45 minute technical (medical) tape on asbestos with the uiion officials that they could study. Can you imagine his misdirected efforts, such nerve? Sincerely, Charles C. Blackwell, Jr., M.D. SPNY 000114 J Z r -- ' i fTH E LOOK OF ASBESTOSISi Dr. Joseph Cowl oi 11m Ontario Department of Health.shows h d ^ ._ n p ! p a jt^ ^ if c |^ lS I '] .. \,,ta ~J'that hare lodged in human lungi cloud a-rsys. At 1 -^'* - ^,Mr.Sevcral^deatluinMetrohave been altr^i ^^. m m As so o n as he wakes up each Things inside the plant have to im- mornlng, Ed Bader reaches over to prove. I trs a m atter of life and death ``i ` ,j u 90 per cent showed moderate or the 4,500 men in Ontario who work ^ ' j extensive evidence of asbestosis." with asbestos Is the object of great- can be asbestos workers will suffer serious health riamfCt- a killer "We've got the right to know," said Rtewirt r>f tho uw woe o tj*' t ouue au l4va ir ma numiauu jp/i4c*sa** tie apparatus, puts It on his face and for the next IS minutes breathes in pure oxygen. ' He repeats the same procedure be* fore going to bed at night ' ' 'This twice-daily ritual is necesary because Bader, 65, has asbestosis, a lung disease that afflicts peo ple Employed to handle asbestos. ' There have already been several deaths in Metro attributed to asbes' toslS, 1- Asbestos is also suspected to be a health hazard to the general public. i' Asbestosls is the result of tiny as* bestos particles becoming lodged in ''' the lungs. Bader has a bad case and has grave difficulty breathing. When engaged in ordinary conver sation he gasps for breath. He can ho longer push- a lawnmower and , even walking presents problems. At night he frequently startles from his sleep, straggling for breath. -, *It*s killing me* Bader, tapping his chest, recently told The Star, "It's the asbestos in my lungs. It's killing m e." ( I t probably Is. ' F or 22 years, while working In a Metro factory which produces asbes tos products, he breathed in billions of tiny, tough asbestos fibres. The asbestosls victim is beyond medical help because the asbestos fibres are indestructible. They1decrease the elasticity of the lungs and experience has shown that the condition of an asbestosls victim can only worsen. A number of recent events have drawn attention to asbestos as a health hazard. . , . Last month the 527 members of the International Chemical Workers r J Union walked vtlle plant is out of the Johiu-ManScarborough, claim ing that health, not money, was the -main Issue. - Robert Stewart, the union manag er, said: "Four of our people have died and 11 have been disabled by asbestos- caused diseases. The safety stan dards--as set up and policed by the company and the provincial depart ments of labor and health--can't be trusted. . "They've done a lousy job for us. to us." ' The strike Is still on. , William Young, the plant manag er, says, "We observe all the safety regulations laid down by the provin cial government." . Meanwhile, the 750 members of the Asbestos Workers Union (Local M f l t l P V - 'V n / j t - ' l - >uc, jec-Uoe ux u an u w eu erscan l ^ >,t / V J avoid being in constant contact with K & tZ ' aV sbWetsftIV os twoduaay/t, a n..VewVT IqJU uW esJtUioVnU iIs, being posed: Has asbestos become a dangerous pollutant to the average Cousins* condition worsened-an^WK1 . ... . . . huh . - -, : ,v 7 Asbestos may be liberated from cst immediate concern. In factories where asbestos prod ucts are made--such as the JohnsManville plant in Scarboroughmany precautions are taken to keep asbestos out of the lungs of employ ees. Powerful ventilating fans suck the air clean. Men handling powdered "Neither the company nor the gov ernment can refute this conclusion because they don't know enough about the long-term hazards of expo sure to asbestos. " It s no accident that so many cases of asbestosis have been show ing up in the past few years. The Johns-Manville plant was opened here 23 years ago--and it takes 20 to they won a big raise and a short contract, but they're still disgruntled over the health hazard. They work .on construction sites Installing a s b e s t o s water pipes, spraying an asbestos protective solu tion on structural steel and applying various types of asbestos material th a t provides insulation for heating, refrigeration and air-conditioning. The results of the 1971 x-ray test of 520 union members, conducted by the provincial department of health, were recently announced: The hmgs of 14 men snowed changes "sugges tive of asbestosls." Alex Taggart, a union official, finds this figure highly disturbing. " We ve already had six deaths be cause of lung disease," he said. "Only a few months ego, George Cousins passed away." During his 30 years asaninsulation worker. Cousins helped with the construction of dozens of factories, hospitals, higbrise apartments and office buildings. !a t o n foothold. eip0.Su/e * `W . roofing materials, con tUseas' 1. 0e ^ ; wc*ing cbaebltisn,etisn. stoves, hesters and I t s also significant th a t only In 1 * When Dr. W. A. D. Anderson, a the past, 21 years has asbestosbq- ;University of Toronto graduate who come a -widely-used m aterial Dur- \ is now a pathologist in Florida, pering that Period, Canadian annual as- 1 formed autopsies on a large number bestos production--nearly all of [ of Miami people who ta d died of all mined to Quebec.--. h*a*s fr?is*eenii from causes, he discovered that one In 466,000 tons to three times that i four had asbestos fibres embedded amount. . . , .. ,(* V. ?' --;i iinntthhfe.ilrrilunnngs. -1; * When similar series of autopsies Asbestos everywhere were performed to Montreal, New Today, there', hardly a hommee,, e*. 7 "* , " d clUes, asbestos was Iflee, factory, plane, ship, automo' found In 25 to 50 per cent of the V oAtre eMngniM ne tfhUa.tt dJ ome.s n. .oit c. o. _n1t-ai_ n a bodies studied. "This documents the magnitude r a s S o r .x p o Vsme"to genHeranl urSbain poppudlatiioonnss.".'"' s.aaid An- imLast"mmTMontthh, aa tt tthhe. invit*ation Lofi ,1<sur!e t'hree,ea"mt olul'nstodfPoassabibesletotso pmaretai-- TCg1 C S , ? r' \j7 mg v * | lea ia a hving persoa'a t o g . The j tea Toronto to discuss the health only lest 3a8 o<ne fi<orr ggeenneerraall lluunngg hazards of asbestos handing. Seia. disab.hty, which does not tell what ;k7off, "is "a past president of the N e w ^ problem is. X-rays seldom work York Academy of Science and head;V^foj eazrly cases. i ,,.,," J I t seriousness of asbestos as a the plant, taking several air sam ples. Young, the plant manager, said, "Tlie object is to make sure that the air is kept `safe.' " / In official regulations, air Is safe (provided that it contains no more (lthan fiv<e asbestos fibres, no lonpger W1*1* 1/25,000 of an inch, per cubic centimeter. Inspectors call From time to time, the plant la also visited by Inspectors from the iI,,d^ S t "L hf al,th *nd rays the chests of workers once a year and administers a lung performance test. D" rr.- yC*o*w1ie9,' <*arge th* f he?* diseasc unit of the province's J ^ ir o n m e o ta l ^ a lth service, saad: -H w..e....f.m....d....c.h...a..n.g6ves,, i^n the 4luUnJ,6g wwe w rra ^ company physician and 30 years for th e damage to be done." Authorities like Dr. Cowie admit that gaps still exist in our knowledge of the hazards of asbestos exposure. "Asbestos," he pointed out, "is a 20th century mineral. I t's only com paratively recently that Us dangers have been recognized. The safety standards we set are based on the best scientific information avail able." 1 But, because the demand for as bestos is increasing by 3 per cent each year, it's likely that the num ber of occupational casualties will increase to the future, he predicted. The air monitoring program has also been singled out for attack by union officials and members. Ron Proudfoot, 42. who has in stalled insulation in dozens of new buildings in the Metro area, says, "Often, if yoif look up towards the sunlight when you're working, you can see millions of asbestos parti cles floating to the air. You seldom see an inspector and air samples are S f i i i ! ! ^ ^ k ^ 0UlrtStaalH^ ' threat to the average urban dweller 018 worker's family doctor rarely taken." Breathing labored p.tallKlofm ed.em ,. . rtll ^ epen ^ X n l X . ' n the worker himseU. Jam es Irwin, of the Toronto de \Vhen he reached the age of 60, he For the past 30 years, he has spec i 'te d that, * W with automo- In *om* cases, this information been studying asbestos as as occu- *bile exhaust fumes, general pollution / may lead to the worker being trans- partment c ) buildings, explained found that he was so tired when he pational hazard. , , of> tba air, and cigarette smokmg. '* frrred to a job where there's less that his safety construction branch came home at night that he had to go to bed. His breathing became "We can expect, worse thtiing*s 'asbestos s.mply adds to the risk of exPsur lo asbestos or to an early tries to havi an inspector visit each building site atleastonce a week. ahead," he predicted. "We havevy3ii. (hmg cancer. retirement. " progressively more labored. Alice, to learn to Uve with asbestos/' 7 his widow, who lives in the Dan- ;F. . The asbestos worker on construe Caution is urged According to union officials, these safety programs look great on paper but they're not preventing asbestos Can't be everywhere "We only have eight inspectors forth-Coxwell area, recalled: . ."His condition rapidlyxworsened1, tion sites, he said, will eventual]; until he couldn't walk up a flight of -show six or seven times the norma , Like othir authorities on chest dis eases, Dr. Joseph Cowl,, of the On workers from being struck down by and they cah't be everywhere at stairs without being completely ex hausted. H e had to give up hunting rate of lung cancer, three times thi tario department of health, cau normal rate of cancer of the col tions against pressing the panic stomach and rectum. - % lung diseases. The assumption that air contain ing five asbestos fibres -per cubic once, standing behind each worker ati the time,'? he said. "If there's a lot of pollution in the air, the worker which was always the love of his button on asbestos m the genera] centimeter can be inhaled with im should be wearing a mask. That's a hfe. George was fighter and insist Mesothelioma-- malignant tumor atmosphere. munity is questioned. regulation. But a lot of them won't ed on going off to Work every morn tIh..a.t. gslrouwit,s min tuhie upper cuhes!t walil ' *"Tsnhe researecnhers," he said, ""hat\e "That standard may ultimately do it. It's a hard regulation to en ing. But he had to quit two years and abdomen lining-is found in one Jo u n d fibres in the lungs of non-as- kill all of us," said Stewart of the force, especially in the warm weath before the retirement age of 65." of every 8,000 people in the general //bestos workers, coated by iron and International Chemical Workers Un er " The couple then began spending population. In asbestos workers, the protein. But it's not clearly estab- ion "It means that the average guy five months of the year in their Mus oW ccUu.r.rVeUncVeCiUsVoUneCV ofHeVvCearyj *1v0.. U [I llsfted inIl wAlhiaait ^p.rwo^pwoe.rvtaivosn voif tthuecmul The refusal of guvrinmcnt health koka cottage, hoping that the pure Uflin hav*. I. u.k.,,4 . . ____ __ . In one group of 400 asbestos work- i^ fe .cre. I? a3j >esfr* ^ some other is inhaling 15 million fibres every /departm ents and management to eight-hour shift. According to Dr V disclose the quantity of asbestoi a ir would clear up his lung candi- ers who h.44a4d. bveweini ovinl tUhe jjVobVfitoflr O20 VP*rt`Cle inhaled f Selikoff, this means that after 20 found in the air samples is anothor uon. It was a futile dream!. George year* or more, Selikoff reported that year* of exposure, the majority of source of union apprehension. Chemical Worker* Union. "F or tu , it'x a matter of life o r death. W*v* N heard that some of the ample* tak en have checked out at 10 above the maximum safety n*pit, J - i think we should be taktogonrow a | samples." Youge, manager of th f >` I Johns-Manville plant, says tils com pany is willing to discuss th e disdo- sure of air monitoring refluite with the unico. , ^TT, * . r Stewart emphasizes1th e .seed, for, : constant surveillance of th e 'airbe* , cause prevention Is the only way ta stop fatalities among 'the asbestos workers, >1 1 . Symptoms missed-. . , " Sure," ho aid, "every year they . take a : x-ray of our lungs. But hew valuable is it? By the time y o cas ee the symptoms of lung disease oo , the film, it's too late to dp anything ' aboutit" 1 / ; \ & -.s ;, - Dr. Cowie agrees th a t e triy symj> toms ef diseases of th' tong are , often missed by radiology. H e e s - j plained: "If the, damaged tissue : doesn't throw a.shadow* we 'C ast make a diagnosis," > ,, How can thO'number of aabestofltinked health casualties be reduced? Following are some ef the sugge*-; : tioos made to The Star: . A;, : > 1 - ( 1) A program.! research topro* I duce improved ventilation and ex- \ faaust ayetems,- respiratory masks) 1 and enclosed containers to which to ; mix powdered asbestos. - r ^ (7) A more constant and efficient; ; system of monitoring the Jdr^lm* . proved techniques to manufacturing 'a n d installation of asbestofl,products' , th at decrease*# amount .of polltif.^tion. y (3) Greater io-ojw atioiibetw eel i jogrpvr-iu.n.Ve.n.,t'M h Ua a 4H, ^h dVepi1*ar.t-ment managements and unions, (4> The introdaction of a provin cial Asbestosls Act, containlng com , preheusive guidelines'for'the safe \ handling of asbesto^, HopefuBy, it would accomplish for asbestos work ers what the Silicosis Act achieved , by enforcing stringent safety regal* tions for miners. ' " "If we adopt such measures," said Dr Irving Selikoff during Ms recen trip to Toronto, "then we can lean to live and work safely with asbe* toa." . ' *, SPNY 000115