Document a4gzqvMeYNNRJpZvQbOJgpw29

Once active, mesothelioma spreads swiftly. This X-ray photograph shows a lung covered with cancerous growth. the Maaville plant), such u the com- ny's research laboratory or Its mainuance shop, cancer accounted for 40 v cent of the workers* deaths, albert- for approximately S per cent, 'hat wax happening," ] was told by t. William J. Nicholson, an associate ' SetScoff's at Mount Sinai, `was that, itbout asbestosis, these people lived tiger, which gave them time to die am cancer, aim caused by asbestos.") A second point made by Selilcoff was at the monitoring techniques used to certain the fiber count set by the Deirtment of Labor record only long fin. although shorter fibers are equally ipahlr at causing cancer. Moreover, a cuhfc*entiineter sample of air conbUng llr admissible count of five tig filers there rosy be ten to 100 net as many short fibers. And it is cae uncounted ones that remain in c air the longest (In a recent constation 1 asked Dr. Selikoff what cse figures meant in terms of the ambers of fibers an asbestos worker in he asked to breathe in the course : an eight-hour work day. Each of us apises approximately one million cubic mtimetere of air in an hour, he lalned. Thus, in eight hours men and omen assigned to sections of an asbeaa plant where the five-fiber count obJns respire some forty million fibers. If so-catled short fibers are taken into count, the number of fillers respired fly rises to around four billion.) While Dr. SeKkoff and other medical searchers stressed health factors at the nbor Department hearing, asbestoa intistry spokesmen emphasized economic insidemtion*. Henry B. Moreno, JohnsUnvillc's senior operating vice-pretimt, asserted that.to achieve a two-ficr-count level fai all of its .asbestos fanides would cost about $12 million in ipital espenditures, phis some $5 fall en in additional operating expenses r.h year. This would mean, he jaid. ixt the company would simply liave to loe down the dustier operations in the linville plant and fire 800. employees all but killing off the economic .life f the town. Nor, he argued, would tlu* Sects of a two-fiber standard stop ere. Other asbestos companies would e forced to lay off workers; they wnukl avo to begin buying asbestos materials em abroad. "It is obvious," suid Me mo, "that Site overall rffcct of lowering s turn before deciding wWther it would meet the reduuod exposure standards or close down imich of tlie plant. (Apropos of Johtw-Manvillc's priorities, it might lie ratted that, while the company ex pressed qualms about spending more money to make its factories safer pLces to work in. it recently spent 625.9 mil lion to transfer its corporate headqour- tors from New York City to a pristine setting twelve miles outside Denver.) D. Selikoff took a different view of Hodgson's four-more-years decision. Estimating that aome 100,000 men and women will enter ashertos-rrlated in dustries before the fiber count Is low ered in 1976, he predicted that 20,000 of them might be expected to die of long i cancer. 7,000 of mesothelioma, and an the present [standard] to two fibers per cc. would have a very substantial effect on our nation's ecooomy." In July Hodgson--rebuffing both his Advisory Committee on Asbestos Dirt and the mosh panel--agreed to allow the exposure standard to remain at five fibers lor four more years; only in 1970 would the standard be lowered to the safer-sounding count of two fibers. Johns-Munvflle welcomed Hodgson's decision. "The new occupational health standard for asbestos issued today." declared a company notice to stock other 7,000 of other cantors and asbestosh--u high rate of death from these discuses that could, and should, have heee lowered. 1972 proved to Ite a paradoxical year in }ohns-Manville history, hi Washingtnu, as we have seen.* rate company spokesman after the other hint; pre dicted dire fiiuutc-ial remits not just for the Industry but for the entire econ omy if the finer mint were lowered. Back in Munvillr. liowever, company engineers were Winging the count way doom, without CMiisiug ii dip In Use dlvideads. At the hearings Slu-lilon Samuels, holders, which came out the same dav as the Labor Secretary's decision, "will have' no tangible effect on sales and earnings of Johiu-Manville Corpora tion." The release vent on to say that between now and the department's 1976'deadline company officials would have to study tire "ecimbmlcs and over all profitability" of tlir Mwnville opera- director of henltli aisd em-ironmeutal af fairs for the afl-cio's industrial union deportment, had told spokesmen for the inmaslry this could W done: the spokes men bad insisted it couldn't. Fiber-count statistics provided by Samuels (see box] are revealing in u number of wavs. Not only du they make dramatically clear loir vastly lire situation ut Manville Asbestos Fiber Countdown The chart below shows percantagot ol as- besios-liber-count samples obtained ai work stations representative ot all those m lull operation at the nme ai Johns-Manviiic's Manvtlle. New Jersey, plant during tour years lor which such counts are avaiiablo. Improved in 1972; they also indicate that controls were slaclc veil into the suppotedly safe Sixties. With til per cent of (Ik- plant i*ow operating within the stundord set for 1976, things nrc looking up at Manville. Even such t-ritic-ul observers ax Dr. Utt than 1 fibers m*.. inf itn 1971 15.6 It 14.0 910 l-S Hbars 24 6 137 9.0 Ml fibers 51.3 25 5 439 Mora than 11 tibara 6.3 61.0 14 9 Hoaow and Dr. Selikoff say that they use impressed by Ibe change* made. Stiff, tliese tsrdv improvements are small comfort lo people Hke Smhty, who "crnt'l do anything." New sltall they liemrfit those ManWile citizens who in ths next few yean will suffer from huv- |r>ewrf POr-Ot4 fi, SWO** thittlfit fit rwaiis **e ww*Mrv.il lot uw AFi-CiOs Muiiml wven arssMwtMl hit n-urkrd at or lived near the plant wmm conditions wore far more hazardmas than thev are today. 8006 0727 mr PRODUCED BY FORD