Document qa32Vz97LMp9GkJa88Rq8j60q

FILE NAME Corning OC DATE 1979 Jan 15 DOC OC367 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Warning Letter to Employees CORNING FIBERGLAS The CORNING FIBERGLAS CORPORATION P O. BOX 100. BERLIN NEW JERSEY 08009. PHONE 609 767-3300 January 15 1979 Dear Former Corning Berlin Plant Employee Over the past several months the U. S. Department of Health Education and Welfare has made a number of public statements regarding the possible health effects of exposure to asbestos Recently they announced a program to contact persons who have worked in the past with asbestos and to notify those persons and all physicians in the United States of the health hazards of working with asbestos Even though asbestos should be considered a material which can cause disease this does not mean that everyone who has been exposed to asbestos will be adversely affected Adverse effects from exposure to asbestos depend on the ability to get the fibers into the body in sufficient concentrations for a long enough period of time to cause detrimental changes If the concentrations of asbestos are kept low enough it is unlikely to cause disease even though some fibers may be inhaled It usually takes many years often times twenty or more years of exposure to excessive concentrations of asbestos before any lung changes can be detected This does not mean that a man who works less than twenty years could not contract lung disease Two men working in the same moderately excessive concentration for the same length of time might both contract the disease One man may contract the disease or neither man may contract the disease is what is meant by susceptibility From a medical standpoint we cannot identify a susceptible individual before he has an exposure nor can we fully explain why one individual will get a more severe case than another worker Asbestosis a condition of scarring of the lungs is one disease that can result from exposure to asbestos Asbestos exposure can also cause a person to have a greater chance of getting lung cancer possibly intestinal cancer or a rare type of cancer called mesothelioma Except for mesothelioma the chances that BERLIN MANUFACTURING PLANT 01 006 1733 January 15 1979 Page Two a person will get disease from working with asbestos are related to the amount of asbestos he breathed while he worked and the length of time that he worked with asbestos Since 1958 Berlin Plant employees have received a periodic chest ray as part of the preventative health program In 1971 the company installed an even more comprehensive periodic health screening program which included in addition to the ray other testing procedures and an examination by the plant physician This examining of current employees continues even 1 th9o7u2gh the company stopped using asbestos at the Berlin Plant in A physical examination to detect the above illnesses may help to find the disease in its early stages so that the best available treatment or medical care may be given Since you worked with asbestos in the past we recommend that as a part of your ongoing health care you contact your personal physician for a physical examination If you or your physician have any questions regarding asbestos or its health effects please contact Dr. P. V. Parilla 609-767-3300 at the OwensCorning Berlin Plant Sincerely Kicha Kicha Hite R. S. Hite PLANT MANAGER RSH jmw 01 006 1734