Document e1VbG2y4rD5pak9YGqNrEJNQE

The Health Aspects of Asbestos Presented by Dr. Donald J. Billmaier For Employees of Owens-Corninq1s Plant in Berlin, New Jersey May, 1978 Within the past two weeks there have been a number of newspaper, magazine and television reports on the subject of asbestos. They resulted from a warn ing issued by Health, Education and Welfare Department Secretary Joseph A. Califano, Jr. Since many of you were working here when asbestos was used in Kaylo, this warninq has naturally been a cause for concern. Your Plant Manager, Dick Hite, and his boss, Frank Brisley, have asked me to come here and meet with you. I 'nr representittg"fhtfens.-C.0TTiin:g;^iM'edf'5;l^De- partmentr--amTIthe purpose of my visit is to try and answer whatever questions you might have, about asbestos, the Califano-sta^tement-j-oi^-any-other-reTat^d- concern. " In checking, tlirfliigh-jn&dicalrecords--here-at-lhe-plant I notice a Tot--of- you have been with Qwens-Corning much longer...th.an._I_lia.ve.--1 joined the company- in (yr) as ^(titTe) Before that I (adlj-t-ionaT-profess-ioncLl. background). One of the reasons I was attracted to Owens-Corning was the company's his tory of research regarding the health aspects of the work environment and the company's products. The earliest studies of the health aspects of glass fiber materials took place in the 1930s. PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT 01 127 0541 The question then was whether tnere might be any adverse health affects from fibrous glass. This is important to know because it's the company's stated objective to provide a safe and healthful place in which employees can work. From time to time we hear claims that there are adverse health affects from fibrous glass, but to date, we have seen no evidence to support those claims. We have perhaps the best opportunity to discover such evidence if it exists, because Owens-Corning*s insulation plant in Newark, Ohio has been pro ducing glass fiber materials longer than any other plant in the world. Veteran employees there have been working with the material for some 40 years, and we see no health pattern in that group that is different from the population as a whole. We've furnished material for studies that compared the health problems of our employees with a comparable sample of citizens from the general population in another city; we've had noted lung experts examine employee x-rays; and we've sponsored a number of laboratory experiments involving animals. The re sults have always been the same; no evidence of any adverse health affect from fibrous glass. __ _ ___ But asbestos is not'fibrous- glass'. It's a different material altogether,, and there jhs evidence that heavy exposure to asbestos can increase the risk of contracting serious disease. ------ ; You prohably know.-more about asbestos than l do,1 but let me-briefly re- J view some background on-the material. Asbestos is a fibrous mineral that will not burn. It is mined from the earth; most of it comes from either Canada or Africa. Asbestos has outstanding insulating capabilitfes, and its fire resistance makes it especially useful in very high temoerature applications. Those prop erties also make it excellent-for use aboard shin, where boilers generate ex- tremely high temperatures, space -s at a premium and fire safety.a prime con sideration. 01 127 0542 As you no doubt noticed in the articles about Califano's statement, most of the people who were exposed to heavy concentrations of asbestos dust had their ex posure in World War II shipyards. For-e*amp4p, a number of people fr-em-this area were exposed to asbestos in the shipyards at Camden, Gloucester City and Philadelphia. According to the-Department of Healthr-tducation and-Welf-ar-e^ between 8 and 11-mi4lion-Americans may have been exposed to the widely-usedmineral since the beginning of World War II. Asbestos was an important pprt~of Kaylo high temperature insulation ever since the plant was built. As many of you will recall, the plant was acquired from Owens-Illinois by Owens-Corning in 1958. It wasn't until about 10 years later that the health aspects of asbestos began to receive widespread attention Why so-many years of use before a health problem was noted? Because it is the nature of asbestos-related diseases that they take 15 to 35 years or----more to develop. Owens-Corning's response to the health hazard of asbestos has-been two fold. First we-reduced-the-degree o^ exposure through dust collecting equip ment, improved plant ventilation and pexf&ta# respirators. The second step was removing asbestos from the product. As you all know, there is no asbestos used in the pi-ant today. Our technical people found a way to use glass fibers and other materials, eliminate the use of asbestos, and still achieve the high thermal performance needed by the plant's customers. Those of you who have worked here for many years I'm-sere recognize that giant strides have been made-in improving, this plant's work environment. Dust collecting equipment and other components of the ventilation system have been steadily improved over the years. Today this Diant meets all of the Threshold Limit Value requirements specified by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, commonly referred to as OSHA. 01 127 0543 4- - '--A. You may be wondering why Secretary Ca1f:ano is raising the health issue with asbestg&^t* this time. In my judgement, he's carrying out the govern- ment's obligation to inform its citizens of matters which may bear directly on their lives. In-tMsiCase-, the Secretary says he recently received word of new studies which demonstrate that asbestos creates a high risk of serious disease for workers who have been heavily exposed to the material. This concern is nothing-new to Owens-Corning or the Berlin Plant. It's i> the same concern that prompted a meeting -like^this in 1971. At that time you-met wi-thHjrs ^on^TZxonzen^fiwensTCorning's Medical Director.^ Dick Hite-has- recently sent ypu all a letter which reviewed highlights of that 1971 meeting, I want to give you arv-opportuni-by to ask your questions, but it might be helpful if I first -answered some of the guestions I anticipate many of you i have. Perhaps--the-Jcey questioniis, "Will I get cancer?" ^ ...... i At this point, there is no way to answer that^-one-. No one has found a-- between smok-ing-and-cancec^- There -is-an..i ncru use iLci sk iirtiove loping cancer if-yotf-smokev--Some-smokers-will develop-cancer, many othe-rs will not.There jf< ____________ -- is no way to determine who will and who will not'. I-f-yoO workecTher-e-^heri asbestos was used in the product, you were exposed to the material. How much exposure depends on your job and the length of time you did that job or worked in the plant.,^Based on my understanding of the plant environment in the past, you probabVjjfflBiFa significant exposure to asbestos. I don't believe it was as severe aspme-exposures others had in shipbuilding. I don't believe this plant ever had the concentrations of dust that I've seen reported in ship building and heavy construction. 3ut there is no question that employees at this plant prior to 1972 had a significant exposure to asbestos. 01 127 0544 -5- This significant exposure increases the risk of serious disease, but it doesn't mean that you will have a serious asbestos-related disease, and it doesn't mean that you won't have one. Only time will tell, and as was pointed out in Secretary Califano's statement, it can take years before any adverse health affect is noted. You should be aware of this risk and watch your health carefully. Those with asbestosis should be careful about colds and other respiratory diseases because they can be more severe when they affect impaired lungs. As Secretary Califano pointed out, if you are a smoker you can reduce the risk of your contracting a serious lung disease very substantially by quitting.^______ _ Another question I've heard frequently is, "What can I do now to deter mine whether asbestos exposure has affected my health?" If you are concerned about your health now I suggest you contact your family physician and have a checkup. The Department of Health, Education and Welfare is mailing informa tion to all physicians in the country to help them diagnose and treat asbestosrelated diseases. And, of course. Dr. (name), the Plant Physician, will be glad to meet with you or your family physician. Will asbestosis lead to cancer? There has been no demonstrated link between asbestosis and cancer. They are very different types of diseases ~-emrd~T~wouldn't~expect ttreie to-be any-4nfloence-o-f one upon the other.-------A Is there a risk to family members? If you wore dusty clothes home from the plant, your family will have been exposed to asbestos. Of course, their exposure will not have been as great as your own, but you should be aware of that exposure and watch their health carefully as well. 01 127 0545 Now I would like to open the meeting to your questions. I've kept my remarks brief so we can spend as much time as we need in discussing your con cerns. Questions? (Question & answer session) I'm pleased that we've had an opportunity to get together. I'm glad Dick called me when you raised some of these questions with him because this matter is a concern to all of us and we want you to be well informed. If you have other questions after I'm gone, please be sure to direct them to someone here at the plant or your own physician. (name) , the Plant Nurse; (Dr. ) , the Plant Physician; or Dick Hite, the Plant Manager, will all be glad to help. If they can't answer your question they'll get in touch with me and I'll get back to you with an answer either through# them or by calling you directly. Thanks for your attention. 01 127 0546