Document reK0510Zwzvg8Epp8VR47G6LJ

FILE NAME Talc TALC DATE 1972 June 16 DOC TALC206 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION NYT Article - High Levels of Asbestos Found in 3 Paints & 2 Talcums Here LAINTIFF 3 CAMIDIT 0841 T. er a THE NEW YORK TIMES FRIDAY JUNE 1972 ry High Levels of Asbestos Found |= In Paints and 2 Talcums Here By GRACE LICHTENSTEIN Three brands of textured ceil were using the paints The ing paint and two brands of talcum powder have been named by the city's Environmental Protection Administra- city's new pollution code which went into effect Feb. 27 outlaws the spraying of any material containing asbestos Air Resources Commissioner 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 Fred C. Hart said yesterday that as a result the manufac turers had come forward with asbestos paints The environment agency's concern about asbestos in baby powder surfaced almost a year ago when Jerome Kretchmer the Environmental Protection Coustex textured spray finish manufactured by Am sterdam Color Works the Bronx said to contain 50 per cent mixed asbestos minerals Texure manufactured by Purity Paint Products Corporation Brooklyn said to contain Administrator advised consun 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 60 to 80 per cent mixed asbes- name them until tests on other tos minerals , brands were made Imperial QT texture finish we manufactured by the U.S. Gypsum 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 delivered in powder form mixed into a liquid then sprayed on ceiling interiors to finish Acting information from the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 9 the depart 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 consumer 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 asbestos A spokesman for Johnson & Johnson denied yesterday that the company's baby powder contained asbestos saying the ment had several paint samples Food and Drug Administration analyzed by Dr. Irving Selikoff in the last year had accepted of the Mount Sinal Environ test results from three inde- mental Sciences Laboratory pendent laboratories proving who reported the high asbes this He said the E.P.A. knew tos quantities of these test results The Lan- The department issued 13 ders Company could not be desist orders begin- reached for comment ning in May to builders who 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 JNJ 000086528