Document dJeKE3j8w9MOpGKnBJk1rdVR

FILE NAME: Raybestes-Manhattan (RBM) DATE: 1974 Mar 15 DOC#: RBM059 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Letter to Mr. Hawkins from John Marsh Re McGill Study of Asbestos Safety Garments TO; Mr. John Hawkins March 15 1974 SUBJECT: McGill Study of Asbestos Safety Garments I am enclosing a copy of consents by John Magenhoiner on your, memo to no of March 6 as well as soae of oy own. I cannot agree with you that tha research was poorly done and must point out that Dr. Gibbs who is a member of Dr. Corbett McDonald's team at McGill University has a worldwide reputation as an expert on the biological effects of asbestos. We were fortunate that his services were made available to us. John .Magenheimer has commented at some length concerning the first point you raised relative to the use of tho British procedure. As John noted the NIOSH procedure does not call for fixing. Dr. Gibbs chose this procedure deliberately to avoid the possibility of migration of fibers while the membranes- were being transported from Pittsburgh to the Laboratory in Montreal. Dr. Gibbs is a member of the Joint Aerosol Hazards Committee of the ACGIH and the Alii. He is considered to be an expert on the methods for evaluating airborne fiber. Tho relative merits of the different procedures have been debated in the Committee for. some time. Dr. Gibbs chose the British .method because it provided an added measure of safety. I think John Magenheimer's comments adequately cover the other points witii the exception of the comment about Table VI. There was an erasure in the original document. John Magenheimer received a carbon copy of the original which showed the correct figure o f 12.3. You received a xerox copy of the original in which the erased digit "l" showed up. This error occurred in my office. My apologies. I should like to point out that this investigation was initiated in port by requests from-.safety garment manufacturers for assurances that the use of asbestos containing safety garments posed absolutely no health nazard and that the use of such garments did not. create conditions in violation of the 0S11A standards on airborne concentrations.. In addition a specific problem was encountered at U.S. Steel where union officials com plained to management that the use of asbestos containing garments eight cause lung cancer. The McGill Study showed there are some problems we had not anticipated. However* it appears these problems can be solved either by special treatment of conventional fabrics, or thp use of KOYATEX or both. The information available to us should be used in a positive manner tn give us a competitive advantage and to avoid any undesirable publicity that night result from testing programs conducted by others on asbestos containing protective clothing. Please let me know if you have any questions. XC: Dr. J. J. Magenheimer Dr. J. T. Trainer