Document bOxJR8e2JJ1rkzQM5YOO11mJg

Manville R. Batson B. Lewis 9 3 'GC o3?' Internal Correspondence March 30, 1988 S-Diec; Use of Amosite and Crocidolite Recently you requested information on the use of amosite and crocidolite as opposed to chrysotile. Specifically, you wanted to know how they were used, vJny they were used, and Manvi lie's share of this market. First, I'll cover the market share. Manvilie used in its own manufacturing operations approximately 25% of the chrysotile, 23% of the amosite, and 62% of the crocidolite consumed in the United States. Manville also supplied to other manufacturers 26% of the chrysotile consumed in the United States, but none of the anrosite or crocidolite. The per centages may seem high considering Manville owned the largest chrysotile mine in the world, but these were reasons for using the other fiber types, which I will cover next. I'll start with crocidolite. 7Tie vast majority of all crocidolite used in the U.S., both by Manville and other manufacturers, was for making asbestos cement pipe. Since Manville was the largest manufacturer of A/C pipe, it becomes easier to understand why Manville had such a large share of the crocidolite market. Crocidolite was simply superior to all other fibers in pipe manufacture. Attempts to replace it with chryso tile resulted in a poorer quality product and increased production costs. Other uses of crocidolite were for chemical filters, acid resistant packings, and gas filters. It was almost never used in insulation/shipyard products, and I knew of only one Manville product, Therrrcmix 810, which would fall into this category. Amosite, on the other hand, was used primarily in insulation products, particularly in the lightweight insulations required by the Navy. Amosite's chief advantage is that it makes a stronger, lighter, more efficient insulation than a comparable product made from crysotile. Amosite was also less expensive than comparable grades of chrysotile. The question remains as to whether the Navy specifications were Manville's primary motivation for introducing amosite into its asbestos products. This clearly appears to be the case during the WWII era as Don has testi fied. The Navy's requirements for stronger, lighter, and more efficient insulations was a driving force behind Manville's ejqoerimentations to make improved products. One of the primary means for meeting these Our goal: to be your very best supplier MTC 000054