Document bagEoEKwGpQXvzB17vozpJxLo

ly of Sciences g material for the covering of shingles, roofing shingles, Plmpboard and automobile unand commercial use of these d in such activities, a distinct >rts in the more recent medical ct occupational health hazards snce of asbestosis and asbestos kers, mixers, and sprayers, in ly those employed in shipyards, mstanceB under -which asbestos onomy make it likely that they aociated type for other workers ng is used."-'0 oa Textiles ther vegetable or animal fibers isively in the manufacture of i, cloths, Bheets, blankets, and ely in industry (automobile, air, "oof safety clothing, curU. ngs, lagging cloths, and iet>. . fibers and. in the fabricaing, stripping, mixing, bobbing, Be exposed to asbestos dust re- amounts of this have greatly technologic measures in modern iflnich protective procedures stRIre hazards for the workers to be seen because of the often apse before asbestosis may beworkers have left such hazardtn the asbestos textile industry trate that asbestos textile workJect to a distinct asbestosis and PM*. ng in the vicinity of such plants atilation equipment are released ious removal of their asbestos Products >y blending it with other mate* chemicals. It is used for seals, Hueper: Exposures to Asbestos 191 packing material for pumps and joints, for making paper, filter material, circuit breakers, molds, and many other articles, whose total number Selikoff et aI.M have estimated to run at about 8,000 different items. While not all contacts with asbestos and asbestos products are associated with exposures to asbestos dust and thus may result in the development of pneumoconiosis and cancers of the lungs, pleura and peritoneum or less often of asbestos warts of the skin,"'"1 there can be little doubt that such health hazards are connected with the production, processing and handling of many of them. Their existence, however, may often not be known, rec ognized and appreciated by members of the medical profession, not ade quately familiar with industrial practices and products. Protection of Asbestos Workers by Workmen's Compensation Laws Asbestos workers of several countries, acquiring as the result and in the course of their regular employment asbestosis of the lung with or without a complicating respiratory cancer, are covered by provisions of workmen's compensation laws. These occupational diseases must moreover, in some countries be reported to governmental agencies (Germany, Great Britain) It seems, however, that this type of protection applies in Great Britain to only some types of occupations but not to others. The conditions on this matter differ distinctly in the different states of the United States, where each state has its own compensation acts differing from each other to a considerable degree concerning the type of coverage and the length of the mandatory time-clause. Compensability of asbestosis was denied, for Instance, in North Carolina in 1937 in a suit against the Carolina Asbestos Company by the Industrial Commission. In an appeal, thlB decision was confirmed by the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Legal provisions furnishing presumably adequate protection of asbestos workers against the health hazards peculiar to their occupation at the present time still leave much to be desired in many states. - Conclusions (1) The enormous rise in the production and industrial use of asbestos during the past 60 years has resulted in markedly widened exposure to asbestos dust for a greatly increased number and variety of workers. Some 'of them; moreover, sustain such contacts Incidentally either when being employed in various capacities in operations where asbestos products are processed, used, or handled or when working in plant areas in which an environmental pollution of the air with asbestos exists.**'"* (2) . The harmful effects of such growing exposures to asbestos during the past two decades are reflected not only in a growing number of reports on the occurrence of asbestosis and asbestos cancer in a variety of asbestos worked but also in the fact that such reports originate from a rising