Document jgb40Q2Re5NJR1q8kqR34d1rZ

FILE NAME: Ford (FD) DATE: 1972 DOC#: FD117 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Memos RE Carcinogenic Effect of Asbestos University Study with Attached Newspaper Article The sticky note shown below w as written by Barry Castlem an and attached to the page immediately following this one along the right margin at the spot marked on the next page with an Inlra Company S c ie n tific Research S taff September 6, 1572 Mr. J . V. P e tr o c e lli ce: A. E. Anderson W. D. Compton J . U. Damian S. G ratch D. A. Jensen J . E. Mayer J . S. Ninomiya B . H. Simpson P. E. Toth S u b je c t: C a rc in o g e n ic E f f e c t o f A sbestos -- Wayne S t a t e U n iv e rs ity Animal Experim ents X On A ugust 2 2 , 1972, I te le p h o n e d D r. Andrew L . R eeves, A sso ciate P r o f e s s o r o f O c c u p a tio n a l and E n v iro n m en tal H e a lth a t Wayne S ta te U n iv e rs ity School of M edicine, regarding h is in v e stig a tio n of th e e ffe c ts of asbestos i n h a l a t i o n on la b o r a to r y a n im a ls . An a r t i c l e on D r. R eeves' work appeared i n th e D e t r o i t News o n J u ly 27, 1972 which i n d i c a t e d t h a t he p la n s some a n im a l e x p e rim e n ts u s in g h e a t - t r e a t e d a s b e s to s . By t h i s means, he in^-en s t o s im u la te t h e form o f a s b e s to s o r i t s d ec o m p o sitio n p ro d u c ts which may b e e m itte d from a u to m o tive. b ra k e s when s u b je c te d to th e h igh su rfa c e tem p eratu re generated during braking. D r. Reeves i s working under g ra n t from th e U. S. P ublic Health S e r v ic e . He h a s p u b lis h e d work on exp erim en ts i n w hich he exposed ro d e n ts to a sb e sto s ( c h r y s o tlle , c ro c id o lite , or am osite) by in h a la tio n o r by i n t r a t r a c h e a l , i n t r a p l e u r a l , o r i n t r a p e r i t o n e a l i n j e c t i o n (Andrew L . Ree e , E nvironm ental R esearch, Voi. k , No. 6, Dec. 1971, PP- ` - experim ents, no anim als exposed by in h a la tio n to c h ry so tlle dusn (the form o f ^ a s b e s to s u s e d i n b ra k e l i n i n g s ) developed any m a lig n a n c ie s . He was a b le to induce m alignant tum ors in anim als exposed to c ro c id o lite by in h a la tio n and to cro cid o lite o r chrysotlle by In jectio n . D r. Reeves i s c u rre n tly conducting a d d itio n a l experiments w ith .xw lvertzed a sb e sto s in. which he expects to e s ta b lis h experim ental co n d itio n s conducive to m a lig n a n t tumor fo rm a tio n , a f t e r - rfhich h e P - ^ s "XL ' e x p e rim e n ts w ith h e a t - t r e a t e d a s b e s to s '. He e x p e c ts t o be a* ^ t o j 7 ? iq 7 2 p re lim in a ry r e s u l t s o f h i s c u r r e n t exp erim en ts by th e end o f December 972. He hopes f o r a re n e w a l o f h is PHS g ra n t i n J a n u a ry . Dr. Reeves in d icated th a t he m ight lik e to use a c tu a l airborne c b r a k e l i n i n g w ear d u s t i n `some o f h i s a n im al e x p e rim e n ts, and we d isc u sse 001164 O . C PRODUCED BY FORD Mr. J .' Y. P e tr o c e lli -2 - September 6, 1972 th e p o s s i b i l i t y o f o u r p ro v id in g some a s s i s t a n c e t o him in s e t t i n g up su ch exp erim en ts. Dr. Reeves is o u t o f th e country d u rin g September and suggested th a t ve g e t in touch in the l a t t e r h a ll o f October to explore fu rth e r the 001165 PRODUCED BY FORD t ^ Z l g l D E I g O j T N E W S -- Thursday, July n , l m Asbestos blamed lining dust to cancer N r k l K * Writer Asbestos in autombile brrke 1minpi may be , potential cause of cancer, a Wayne Slate University School of _ ----- u cicrnnne w hether the heat-changed, inhaied asbestos particles are as toxic as the inhalation of regular asbestos panicles. , noc owy hat levels of b e r y l l i u m sre dangerous but how to immu- nue persons exposed to the substance. Medicine researah team fears. Dr. Andrew Reeves, chief of the research team, said yes terday that overexposure to asbestos particles is mown to be the cause of a number of lung diseases, i n c l u d i n g cancer. But what isn't known, he aid. is whether use of the brakes releases harmful parti, d es into the air. kSBEfTOS is used in brake linings, building materials Pbe asbestos industry Dr R1" v" c " i i " concerned about the potential harards and is "cooperating in a very nice way and not trying to coverup." One evidence of their coop- f T ' b, \ " id- " that Johns-ManviHe supplies him asbestos by the ton" for his experiments. Dr. Reeves, an associate professor of occupational and environmental health, is doing Working with guinea pigs they art examining the possil bifity of immunizing against berylliosis. "We have not reached the point where we can apply our findings to humans but that is ur goal," he said. . The team's b e r y l l i u m research has been oriented toward chronic studies, expos ing guinea pigs for seven hours a day over a relatively long period. and. to some extent, in the clothing industry. J addition to lung cancer, overexposure to asbestos may lead to asbestosis. a degenera tive type of lung disease, and possibly to mesothelioma, a tumor of the lining of the chest cavity, or pleura. Dr. Reeves said the asbes tos industry denies, on good e v i d e n c e , that asbestos released into the sir from sutomobile brakes poses a health hazard because the high temperatures incurred in braking mean the asbestos has taken another form. **But^the final word la not known," Dr. Reeves said, nothing that it ! no* known yet ~h*L that form is and whether it p r e s e n t s any ztrd to humans. research on a number of potential and known health problems related to asbestos end beryllium which is used in number of industrial pro cesses. His studies are sup ported by g ,, nt f n m ^ National Institutes of Health. P louib Ms r e s e a r c h y e guinea nig*. Dr. xeevfcj u especially. cod- cerned about the levels of both asbestos and beryllium which f * n t> inhaled safely, br humans. - J Guinea pigs are like humans and unlike rata in their reac tion to beryllium, be said. w "In ^ research here at ? myT? \ Dr- Reeves said, "we *fter r< bad b a exposed to beryllium, thev had a very high incidence of cancer. EACH MONTH, a select P tM1P the exposed guinei pigs are dissected and micro biological and chemical stud ir f l f e made to determine thi effect of the beryllium dust. Drt Reeves said asbestos u much more difficult to stud) " )*n beryllium because of the diffiailty in breaking asbestos "P into particles small enough be blown into chambers for inhalation by guinea pigs. , Tbe team had to design and tmd a special hammer to do the job. But the hammer itself introduced i problem because it erodes lightly as it js med. Despite the researchers' Itempea to remove trace roetofit. the "f_ ip , ptrti. ties mtrodueed may be inhaled along with the asbes tos particles. Seeking "the final word." Dr. Reeves end his research planning an ^reperi- menta! system that will simu late the mechanical action nf brakes, heat the asl^stos to UOO decree f-ahr^nheir nnd blow tif .-I , lor inhstlaiim; i* * cu*nc" ri*i. The guinea p:gs iU then he But beryllium does not seem to cause cancer in humans or in guinea pigs. It is * toxic substance that c*irfiPce.?.r* to *** rpccie* spe Beryllium particles, how 's or. .-it-- avneinn-d v/iih a n ,, r;i,,' ri bfrvIli.iMs, O r. Reeves' team is trying Then, the researchers hav a difficult time trying t ascertain whether the eifect upon the guinea p i-s of tb inhaled material should bi attributed to asbestos or to tb trace metals. Dr. Reeves serves on the ail P'Murkon rv3lu*;.i~n commit ice ot the American |n(V_5tru hygiene Association. ~ 001163 PQ gosg PRODUCED B Y FORD Inter Office Communication SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH STAFF December -5/~1972 / SUBJECT: C a rc in o g e n ic E f f e c t s o f A sbestos-W SU A nim al E x p e rim e n ts As a f o llo w - u p t o o u r p r e v io u s c o n t a c t ( s e e a tta c h m e n t) we m et w i t h D r. Andrew R eeves and h is a s s o c i a t e s a t th e Wayne S t a t e S chool o f M ed icin e on November 17 . D r. B eeves i s now c o m p le tin g w ork on a c o n tr a c t w ith th e P u b lic H e a l t h S e r v ic e i n w hich s? n cT h c^ h tratio h s^ f^ Ifh o rn eT ^ b ^ T ffet'S lfib 'ers'^ D r. Reeves s ta te d th a t cancer developm ent m ight w e ll o cc u r a t some f r a c t i o n o f th e a n im a l's norm al l i f e span,, r a th e r th a n a t a f ix e d a b s o lu te time.* T hus, w ith s u ita b le la b o r a to r y anim als, the dose-tim e-cancer occurrence re la tio n s h ip s fo r airborne asb esto s exposure m ight be e s ta b lis h e d w ith in a few y e a r s . A lo g ic a l exten sion of h is work i s being proposed by Dr. Reeves fo r a new FHS con tract, to be submitted in January 1973 and in it ia t e d th e fo llow in g simmer. In t h is study, hgvpla,nsTit^^Bub^ect^ h is" Ia h o r a tc ir O n iS T ^ tc u siS u lh te d l? te^rtga^iftXiifeWe^'r^'ebg i s . His11pianned"`approarh was to heat o h ry so tlIp asb estos to l 500F, subject th is m aterial to m echanical a c tio n , and blow the ensuing airborne m aterial in to h is t e s t chambers. We s u g g e s te d t h a t t h i s a p p r o a c h p r o b a b ly w ould n o t a p p ro x im a te b ra k e a s b e s t o s e f f l u e n t s , A f t e r d e s c r i b i n g w h at we know o f b r a k e l i n i n g i n t e r f a c i a l phenomena and o f th e m agnitude o f a sb e sto s f ib e r co n ten t from brakes in norm al s e r v i c e , we s u g g e s te d t h r e e p o s s i b l e a l t e r n a t i v e a p p r o a c h e s . 009566 produced by ford 8000 17s 177 Us? J . E. M ayer, J r . J - V. P e tro c e lU - 2- December 5, I972 'Tbe f i r s t i s t o c o l l e c t b ra k e drum d e b r is and u s e t h i s m a t e r ia l t o sim u la te th e a i r in an autom otive brake r e lin in g shop. The second is to c o lle c t th e g rin d e r dust in a brake lin in g fin ish in g shop to sim ulate th e a ir in a brake l i n i n g m a n u fa c tu rin g a r e a . W hile th e s e sam ples maybe a p p r o p r i a t e t o s im u la te th e en v iro n m en tal a i r f o r a sm all group o f w orkers, th ey would n o t be exnected t o s im u la te th e d e b r is from autom otive b rak e u sa g e . Our t h i r d su g g e stio n was to g e n e r a t e b ra k e l i n i n g w ear d e b r is a t th e WSU l a b o r a t o r y f o r d i r e c t in t r o d u c t i o n in to th e anim al chambers. The l a s t a p p ro a c h would a p p e a r t o h e p r e f e r r e d , s i n c e we a l l a r e ex p o sed t o b ra k e l i n i n g wear d e b r is , y e t l i t t l e i s known o f i t s c a rc in o g e n ic . p r o p e r t i e s - We do know, from o u r own s t u d i e s , t h a t much l e s s th a n 1$ o f t h e asb e sto s content of th e lin in g is em itted to th e atm osphere. D r. Irv in g S e lik o f f , th e noted e x p e rt on asb esto s epidem iology from Mt. S in a i School o f M edicine, has sta te d th a t he doubts th a t brake usage c o n trib u tes s ig n ific a n tly t o a s b e s to s a i r p o llu tio n . However, a good la b o ra to ry t e s t to e s ta b lis h th e d o se -tim e -o c c u rre n c e r e la tio n s h ip fo r b rak e l i n in g wear d e b ris would appear to b e o f im p o rta n c e to us a l l , and p a r t i c u l a r l y t o Ford M otor Company a s a m ajor purchaser o f resin/asbestos fric tio n m aterials. A p relim inary c a lc u latio n in d ic a te s th a t airborne asbestos concen t r a t i o n s more th a n a thousand tim es th e ty p ic a l le v e l (l-lO ng/m^) found in U .S . c i t i e s could be generated w ith a 3 horsepow er device which uses standard b ra k e p a r t s . T his power l e v e l would c o n fin e hulk: brake te m p e ra tu re s, and th u s l in in g f r ic tio n and wear behavior, to th e norm al usage range. X t a p p e a rs p ru d e n t t h a t we v o l u n t e e r o u r s e r v ic e s t o a i d D r. E ee v es and M s a s s o c ia te s i n recommending t h i s ap p ro ach o f b rak e 1-tnlng wear d e b ris g e n e r a t i o n f o r M s new RHS c o n t r a c t p r o p o s a l. Our in v o lv e m e n t need b e a s l i t t l e a s a m an-w eek's work, w ith a s s is ta n c e on t e s t f ix t u r e d e sig n and b rak e p a rts procurem ent to assu re th a t re p resen ta tiv e brake d eb ris is generated. Our involvem ent could lo g ic a lly extend to th e design of th e brake device and even i t s construction. We would a p p r e c i a t e your a d v ic e i n t h i s m a t t e r . As o f now, we have made no commitments w ith D r. R eeves, b u t have ex p ressed an i n t e r e s t in M s program . ...... - " n nna A ttachm ent A. E. Anderson M echanical R esearch Department R. L. G ealer C hem ical E n g in e e rin g De; 8000 1179 009567 PRODUCED BY FORD