Document k6y9V5a7zqkDqjrm4d0DY0poB

I Washington, D. C* THE WASHINGTON POST Rapid Increase in Lung Cancer i Noted Among Asbestos Workers. i i By Thomas O'Toole bination he said was rare, while we would have ex* WuhlnitM FMt Bun Writ** But since then, Dr. Sclikoff pectcd nine or ten cancers One vout of five asbestos said, "numerous similar. of the. stomach or colon, insulation workers in metro- cases of this association there were 29." politan New York now dies were recorded." Dr. Selikoff explained of lung cancer, an eminent physician told Congress yes terday. "If these figures are.pro The New York doctor told that the "people who work the Subcommittee, which is in a dusty atmosphere not holding hearings on Prcsi- .only breathe it in, they cat dent Johnson's proposed Oc- it, too." cupational Safety and . Since 1962, he said, "the jected to the country as a Health Act, that nobody-has figures have been even whole, and if no improve ment in the health hazards ` these men face is achieved," said Dr. Irving J. Sclikoff, "we may look forward to perhaps 6000 deaths of lung cancer and perhaps 15,000 deaths of cancer in general in this single asbestos trade alone." Dr. Selikoff is professor of Community Medicine at New York's Mt. Sinai Hospi tal and president-elect of the prestigious New York Academy of Scences. Testifying before the House Select Labor Subcom mittee, Dr. Selikoff said these statistics "come as no surprise" to asbestos indus try observers. "In 1935," said Dr. Seli taken steps to curb the worse, spread of cancer in asbestos "While we would ha\'e ex- workers, despite the mount- pectcd 50 men to have died lng evidence that the dis- in the past five years," Dr. ease is on a rapid rise. Selikoff said, "there have For the past six years, Dr. been 118 deaths. While we Sclikoff said, he has con- would have expected three ducted an intense study of to have died of cancer of 632 asbestos insulation the lung or ploura, 28 have workers belonging to the died of this disease." New York and New Jersey Of equal concern, Dr. Seli- locals of the Asbestos Work- koff went on, is a relatively ers Union. new tumor related to asbes- The 632 men had been as- tos exposure called mcsothc- bestos workers since 1942, lioma, which is a cancer of Dr. Selikoif said. On the the lining of the chest or pe- basis of normal life expect- ritoneum. ancy trends, 203 could have This is such a rare cancer, been expected to die by Dr. Selikoff said, that it is 1962. But, instead, said Dr. found to cause one out of Sclikoff, 255 men died, every 10,000 deaths. But of Looking for the reason be- the 113 deaths in the asbes- hind the extra 50 deaths, he tos worker group In New said, it became evident "that York, he said, 13 have been koff, "Dr. Kenneth M. cancers of several types" from mesothelioma, Lynch, now Chancellor of were responsible. "This makes it one out of the University of South "We might have expected every 10 deaths among as- Carolina, described the case slx or seven deaths due to bestos workers," he said, of lung cancer in a man who lung cancer," he went on, "instead of one out Of . also had asbestosis," a com- "but there were 45. And 10,000." .......Y~- ^PLAINTIFFS |j EXHIBIT If