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FILE NAME DuPont DUP DATE 1966 Oct 25 DOC DUP124 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Memo RE Medical Aspects of the Use of Asbestos and Asbestos Products within the DuPont Company MEMORANDUM TO FROM Clayton A. Zapp 3 W. Jr. Jr. G. J. Stopps 7 00227 COMPANY THE MEDICAL ASPECTS OF THE USE OF ASBESTOS AND ASBESTOS PRODUCTS WITHIN THE DU PONT Meeting held at Haskell Laboratory for Toxicology and Industrial Medicine October 25 1966 Present eee C. A. D'Alonzo D'Alonzo M.D. - Medical Director J. R. Zahn M.D. - Assistant Medical Director J. A. Zapp Jr. - Director Haskell Laboratory J. W. Clayton Jr. - Assistant Director Haskell W. E. Neeld Jr. M.D. - Medical Laboratory A. L. Linch - Director Chambers Works Manager Industrial Hygiene Laboratory S. Pell - Biostatistician Medical Division W. H. Zane - Design Division Engineering Department G. J. Stopps M.D. - Chief Physiology Section Haskell C. F. Reinhardt M.D. - Physiologist Haskell Laboratory Laboratory Statement of Problem at Asbestos has been recognized for many years to chest disease called asbestosis cause a This is a fibrosis of and is associated with several years exposure the lung to asbestos fibers concentrations above the Threshold Limit Value of 5 million particles per cubic foot More past 10 years an association between asbesrteocsentelxyposwuirtehiannd the cancer has become apparent This association shows itself in three ways One persons with established asbestosis have incidence of cancer of the lung or pleura of an per cent compared with a rate of approximately 13 ing from silicosis 1.32 per cent persons sufferTwo persons not but who have a history of exposure to suffering from asbestosis increase in the incidence of cancer asbestos of show a tenfold Three among to asbestos the persons developing a small number show the cancer respiratory system who have been exposed a type of tumor which is rare in the general population In cases very the occupational history of the person showing has this tumor a period of exposure to asbestos almost always revealed The association of cancer with asbestos is of concern at this time because of the lack of data special base a safe dust concentration and the upon which to very long incubation period between the initial exposure and the development of cancer This time interval varies from 15 to 45 years . a ~ 1104-66 1104-66 : 332 oo; NS e - 2 - Objectives of Present Study 1 Assess the risk to the health of employees from asbestos within the Du Pont Company 2 Examine the handling procedures for asbestos from an industrial hygiene viewpoint and prescribe safer procedures where indicated Plan of Attack A. Exposure 1 Define asbestos dust levels for as many asbestos handling operations as possible 2 Define materials containing asbestos and where possible type of asbestos 3 Define operations where exposure may occur 4. Define adequate respiratory protective procedures 5. Consider need for substitutes for asbestos B. Medical 1 Study records of respiratory cancer cases in search for an association with asbestos 2. Develop registry of all known asbestos workers throughout the Company 3 Examine records of asbestos workers and compare them with records of a asbestos exposed control group to assess possible hazard of working with asbestos 4 Develop a smoking and respiratory function questionnaire for use as a routine in all plants as part of the periodic health examination for all personnel 5 Develop pulmonary function tests for routine application during annual physical examination Items 4 and 5 will be of general value in the medical programs of the Company with special relevance to the asbestos study 2233 Implementation -3- on Implementation health of the program to be through a working party and asbestos Suggested make of working party Medical Department , - G. J. Stopps Physician - S. Pell Biostatistician Engineering Department Engineering Service Division J. L. Parsons Design Division or his representative - W. H. Zane Safety - K. E. Keuper Chambers Works Industrial Hygiene Lab >> A. L. Linch Funding C It is anticipated that the working party will be the collection of data on asbestos dust at engaged in locations and in a number of Company the correlating health records with the duration of exposure This will require funding which can not be precisely forecast at this time but would almost below the cost of losing one party suit certainly brought by a be work- man claiming pulmonary disability due to unsafe tions The more important that outlined above is the justification working condi- for a program such as safety of its employees Company's traditional It has been shown that concern for the with asbestos have an increased risk of dying of s coamnecewrorkeIrts is of the utmost importance to discover whether under the condi- tions existing within Du Pont plants this is true for our employees who handle asbestos This project is in the general interest of the affects many operating departments thus Company funding should not borne by a single operating department and be Duration of Study To be of value medical information on those asbestos must be kept current by an annual reviewworkThieng inwiittihal correlation of existing records with exposure data would probably require about 30 days of time work by the biostatistician and the physician once the records were identified and collected in one place These 30 days would probably be spread over a period of about four months Dust sampling is impossible to forecast at this time since the scope of the program must be defined by the working party When the is working a few days of work per year should keep the mperdoigcraalm information updated Starting Date It is anticipated that the one month and field work should January working party should meet within start during the first week of Progress Reports A target date for a first medical report would be the first of June 1967 and yearly thereafter Preliminary data on the dust levels types and sizes of asbestos fiber would be expected to be available by the first of March but due to the need to consider outside work and different climatic conditions a not be available until July 30 more definitive report would Over dyb 11-4-66