Document gD2Vn9G5QLomaeMbORa3BoLb3

High Levels o f Asbestos Found In 3 Paints and 2 Talcums Here By GRACE LICHTENSTEIN New York Times (1923-Currentfile); Jun 16, 1972; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2009) with Index (1851-1993) pg.79 High Levels of A sbestos Found In 3 P aints and 2 T oleum s H ere By GRACE LICHTENSTEIN Three brands of textured ceil ing paint and two brands of talcum powder have been named by the city's Environ mental Protection Administra tion as having heavy asbestosfiber levels that might contrib ute to lung cancer years after a person inhaled their dust. The paints, named at a news conference at a construction site on West 147th Street yes terday, are: <lA-Coustex textured spray finish, manufactured by Am sterdam Color Works, the Bronx, said to contain 50 per cent mixed asbestos minerals. *ITexure, manufactured by Purity Paint Products Corpora tion, Brooklyn, said to contain 60 to 80 per cent mixed asbes tos minerals. ^Imperial QT texture finish, manufactured by the U.S. Gyp-! sum Company, said to contain 5 to 10 per cent of one kind of asbestos. . The talcs are Landers baby powder and Johnson & Johnson baby powder. According to a spokesman for the Department of Air Re sources, the paints are de livered in powder form, mixed into a liquid, then sprayed on ceiling interiors to finish. Acting on information from the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 9, the depart ment had several paint samples analyzed by Dr. Irving Selikoff of the Mount Sinai Environ mental Sciences Laboratory, who reported the high asbes tos quantities. The department issued 13 cease-and-desist orders begin ning in May to builders who PLAINTIFFS EXHIBIT WCD-138 were using the paints. The city's new air-pollution code, which went into effect Feb. 27, outlaws the spraying of any material containing asbestos. Air Resources Commissioner Fred C. Hart said yesterday that, as a result the manufac turers had come forward with asbestos-free paints. The environment agency's concern about asbestos in baby powder surfaced almost a year ago, when Jerome Kretchmer, the Environmental Protection Administrator, advised consum ers to_ stop using talcum until suspicions about its asbestos content were cleared up. At the time, Mr. Kretchmer said two brands tested showed from 5 to 25 per cent asbestos fibers in them but declined to name them until tests on other brands were made. Other Tests Awaited After repeated inquiries from newsmen, the agency released a letter dated June 8 from James R. Marshall, director of public information, to a con sumer naming Landers and Johnson & Johnson as the brands. He said the agency was still awaiting results of tests on other brands, since it suspected that "virtually every talcum powder contains some asbes tos." A spokesman for Johnson &l Johnson denied yesterday that the company's baby powder contained asbestos, saying the Food and Drug Administration in the last year had accepted test results from three inde pendent laboratories proving this. He said the E.P.A. knew of these test results. The Lan ders Company could not be reached for comment. The Food and Drug Adminis tration is also investigating the possible health hazards of tal cum containing asbestos. In an interview, Mr. Marshall suggested that plain corn starch was a cheap and acceptable substitute for baby powder. Dr. Selikoff, considered the leading health authority on as bestos, has long warned of the danger of lung cancer. Asbestos spray is used to fireproof the steel beams of new buildings. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.