Document nN5OyEGqbgBNXoRdOvM4YDLn8

The Health Aspects of Asbestos PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT DOW-1146 Within the past two weeks there haw 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 waminq has naturally been a cause for concern. Your Plant Manager, Dick Hite, and his boss, Frank 8risley, have asked me to come here and meet with you. r m-rpprxjn partmentr-and'^Ehe purpose of my visit is to try and answer whatever questions you might have.about asbestos, the-Califano-etetemenV-or any-othec-ceUtgd- concem. _ you-have been-with-Owens-Corn-ing-much. longer Jthan_I_ha.ve,--J--joined the-comp-any- in (yr) as (title) Before that T (ad44*4onrfc=profess-ioaa.Lbackground). One"of the reasons I was attracted to Owens-Coming 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. 01 127 0541 The question then was whether there might be any adverse health affects frcn 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-Coming'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 eaployee 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~T1brous"glasr.' It's a-different-material altogether,, and there js. evidence that heavy exposure to asbestos can Increase the risk of contracting serious disease. - You probably, know-more- about asbestos 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 capabilities, and its fire resistance makes it especially usefui in very high temperature aoplications. Those prop erties aiso make it excel lens-tor use aboard shio, where boilers generate ex tremely high temoeratures, space is at * oremium and' fire safety.a prime con sideration. 01 127 0542 As you no doubt noticed in the articles about Califano's statement, .nest of the people who were exposed to heavy concentrations of asbestos dust had their ex posure in World War II shipyards. For-Mnewmpie, a number of people fr-m-this area were exposed to asbestos in tne shipyards at Camden, Gloucester Cvty and Philadelphia. According-to"the"Department-of Healthr-Wucation- and-Ueifara,_ between 8 and-W-mi41 ion-Americans may have been exposed to the wide ly-usedmineral since the beginning of World War II. Asbestos was an importantjJAcfcHjf 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-Coming in 19S8. 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 notedt -Because it is the nature of asbestos-related diseases that they take 15-to 35 years-oi----more to develop. Owens-Corning's response to the health hazard of asbestos bafciee* two fold. First we-reduced-the-degree of-exposure through dust collecting equip ment, Improved alaet- ventilation and pUtSuf respirators. The seewri step was removing asbestos from the product. As you all know, there Is no asbestos used in the-p4amt 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-sure- recognize thatgiant strides-have been made-ie- improving/this plant's work environment. Oust collecting equipment.and other components of the ventilation system have been steadily improved over the years. Today this olant meets all of the Threshold Limit Value requirements specified by the Occupational -Safety and-Health Act, co.-nnonly referred to as OSHA. ni 127 0543 You may be wondering why Secretary Califano is raising the health issue with asbestgSiMfthis time. In my judgement, he's carryinq out the govern- tSS]' ment's obligiCftn to inform its citizens of matters which may bear directly on their lives. In-tfcjfcxase-, 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. ,i * This concern is-nothing-new to Owens-Coming or the Berlin Plant. It's'ii the same concern that prompted a meeting -likctlvis in 1971. At that time you* ` "metTwith-Bas--JofK-L^Xonzen^flaens-iCoraing'-s-Medical -Mrector-.^-Dick Hite -hae- recently sent ypu all a letter which reviewed highlights of that 1971 meeting. I want to give you an-oppo'rtuniey to ask your questions, but it might be helpful if I first -answered some of the questions I anticipate many of you i have. "EertiaoSk-the-koy questionlis, "Will I get cancer?? c- At this point, there is no way to answer that. ono. No one has found a-- way-to-predlct who will develop cancer and who will not.--It's 11Ins-XTte-11 nk between, sroking^and .cancer- There-is an~incrffasml-i.Uk hi TfcKelupmg cancer if-yott-smokfr;--Some-smokers will-deielop cancel1*, many others will net.-^ There f'.'A --I, -- t Ms no way to determine who will and who will not?. If-yolTworitedTiere-when 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 o 1 ant-^Basetf on mvcunderstanding of the plant environment In the past, you probablj92$j$-a~sign1ficant exposure to asbestos. I don't believe it was as severe asqi$$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 eihployees at this plant prior to 1972 had a significant exposure to asbestos. 01 127 0544 This significant exposure increases the risk of serious disease, tut 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 asbestos related 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 -emri wouldn't expect theie to be any influence of one upon the other.-------^ 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 New [ 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 Oick 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. Oi 12*7 054