Document vV9Rx04k3NyBZR0a8my9zKzk9

FILE NAME: Mobil (MOB) DATE: 1965 13 Apr DOC#: MOB007 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Unpublished Internal Report with Comments HL-.L1;h civile: a ; A?-tl 91965 ~Ch:~ 25: ~g3: 1 A AtL RGV. 71001 A p ril 13, 1365 KftUlan T. Bendrieka Standard O il Company ( l . J . ) 30 Boekefeller F lu * Boas 2100 Hv lork 20, . I . Dear Yarn I am enclosing ft eopy of my etatoe report oa the p o ten tial asbestos health prohlasi among refinery lunulatore which 1 preeanted a t the Spring neeting in Bland. There n u a d to be some d issa tisfa ctio n with the way th is sur rey is being conducted and suggestions were mads to place the work in the hands o f a subcommittee and to hare a ll the medical records examined by a roentgenologist and s p e c ia list in chest diseases. In accordance with mj assurances to the Radical and Health Cqumdttee to preserve the co n fld en ciality o f the data sent to me, 1 w ill plan to return each contributor's le t te r . Any new eubcaasdttee th at ie appointed can then work out i t s own modus operaodi. 1 Yery tru ly yours, ''JrlCItfc.S'GNtp 1 l. S*>r^ IXR:bgm e e : Allan X. Dooley Arthur C . 7abet Ehclosure X . Sanee TEXWU 005074 HOU 000036 TEX l 0 0 3 b WA-TEX 010346 ike halts or sltdsezkdi appltdsg asbestos nsuuna.' *-'* ' (A. Prelim inary Audit) S e n t reports describin g a high incidence eX pulmonary neoplasms among asbestos workers ha* focused atten tio n on tha haalth o f refinery craftsman engaged in 1nsul atlnn a c tiv itie s . 1b obtain Inform ation relative to tha exper ien ce o f petboleiat companies v ith th a haalth o f th a lr in su lators, nmnbars o f tha Kadi c a l and Haalth Comalttea vara p o llad, In v itin g them to eontrlbuta paraonal inform ation oo th l* aubjaet to a common p o ol. Assurances w a effarad th at tha I d a o t lt j o f tha donor and sourea o f inform ation voold not b* raraalod to praaarTa th a lr co n fid en tiality. Bafora presenting an an alysis o f tha available information on potrolaun coirpany experience, a b rie f h ie tory o f aabeato* a* an In dustrial h a a lth hazard Is appropriate. Hitorical - Tor HO ja a rs or longer aabeato el* has been recognised in the Ouitad States as a form o f pnaumonoconioais resu ltin g from exposure to aabastoa d u s t. Hovever, I t vas not u n til Jo in t medical and environmental studies vara con ducted by o ffic ia l haalth agendas in the m ills o f Pennsylvania and lo rth Carolina about 30 years ago that tha relatio n sh ip between dust concentration, p a rtic le alee, yearn o f exposure and d e fin itiv e fcheat x-ray markings vas established. Tha lung f ie ld markings vara also shown to co rrelate v e il v ith certain subjective reactions r e la te d to pu]nonary function. Important facta concerning tha p h ysical character of tha dusta associated v ith aabeato sis vers rsnraalad in these stu d ie s. Although asbestos fib e r s , renging In median length from ^ -l6 d o ro n s, vers found In tbs a ir , these long fib e rs vers r e la tiv e ly few in masher, Ibe bulk o f suspended dust ranged from about 0 .5 --3 m icrona in length and varied in concentration from as l i t t l e as 1 or 2 m illio n p a r tic le s per cuhie foot of a ir (nqppcf ) to 20 or more mppef, depending on the m echanical operation involved. The correlation s also shoved that a fta r 15 or more years o f sxposurs the disease reached about the eaae degree o f advancement, as evidenced by cheat x-ray narkinge, regardless o f dust In te n sity . In these studies there eeemed to be no evidence of pulmonary or other th o ra cic neoplasms and no suggestion o f such fin d in g s. SubeAquently, reports of the occurrence of lung cancer and other m alignancies associated vith asbestoe deployment began to appear in the lite r a tu r e . Although the number o f such cases appeared larg e , some invee tig alo rs f e l t th at the observations did not eat&bllah an increased incidence of cancer and that the association vas improved. Many HOU 000037 TEX 1 0 0 3 6 TEXWU 005075 W A-TEX 010317 lid v t i ls t jH i were have to e d it la the report claim ing lung cancer u sp e c ific In d u stria l hazard o f asbestos worker*. However, In 1963 * report pub lish ed by S e llk o ff, Cburg and Kamsond (the la t te r o f the cigarette fane) described a sig n ific a n t incidence of lung cancer and other p le u ra l tumors as w ell as can;an o f the Stomach, colon and rectun among asbestos In su lato r* In the construction industry. These insulator* wer* exposed to e vaxisfcy o f m aterials Including fibrous g la s s , cork and hair fe lts which contain no asbestos; other Insula ting m aterials, such as magnesia, calcium s ilic a t e In su la tin g block end in su latio n cements containing 10-15 percent asbestos. Ro fre e s ilic a was present and asbestos appears to be the only b io lo g ically active m aterial In the aoqpaeure. This report asened to be fre e of the a ta tls tic a l weaknesses and other v a lid criticism * o f the e a rlie r rep orts. Since the date o f that report a t le a s t 3 additional publications by other in vestigators confirm in p ert, I f not e l l , the findings o f S e llk o ff and his asso cia tes, in important finding in thasa reports 1s th at thaas cancer* are found eoms 20-40 years after in it ia l exposure to asbestos, frequently a fta r re tire ment from active employment. Stnnaswv o f fin in g - The response to the p o ll o f the M edical and Bealth Coxmdttee members regarding th is p oten tial problem was nominal for th is type of in q u iry. Twelve rep lies representing nine companies were received. Of th is number about 3 companies had mads what appear* to be a ca re fu l examination o f th eir health records at le a s t two other companies are engaged or are about to begin both environmental as w ell as pedicel survey* o f asbeatos In su la to r*. 1 point o f sp ecial' In te re st is that not 11 In su latin g m aterials used In a refin ery consist o f or contain asbestos. Considerable q u an tities o f g la ss wool or rock wool, u w ell as magnesia, are also used as in su la tio n . These m aterials are alert 1ir in composition to those reported by S e llk o ff and a ss o c ia te s . (k>* company reporta that among a group o f about 40 in su lator* there was one case o f bronchogenic carcinoma a fte r eoms 16 year* o f exposure and one ease o f adenocarcinoma o f the rectum a fte r some 20 years o f exposure. Two other employees have had lung biopslss performed) on* w ith 25 year* o f exposure show ing a sin g le asbestos body in the specimen and th e other with 20 years o f sarrics with fibrous thickening o f the avsolar septa but no asbeatoe bodies in the specimen. There was no sig n ific a n t pathology in these specimeos. In another company one plant reporta a suspected ease o f asbeatosie which occurred some 10 year ago, but the outcome o f the case la lo s t to antiquity, i t another plant o f the same company one in su la to r a lower lobectomy and i t was suspectad th a t the fib ro sis was caused by asb esto s. A hlopay disproved this - 2 - H0U 000038 WA-TEX 010348 TEX I 0 0 3 ? TEXWU 005076 allegatio n . X-ray. examination* o f 7 additional in su lator* at th is p lan t, each of whom has had IB or aero years o f exposure, revealed no sig n ific a n t findings, i t s t i l l anpthar plant roentgenography o f a ll the in su lators revealed broncho- raaeular.marking# which was not apparent among other refin ery people, lo s ig n ifi cance was attached to thess markings by the contributing physician. A third reported exasdnation o f in su lators at a l l th alr'p lan ts. The m ajority have Isas than 15 years service and th eir cheat x-ray flln a and othar teats appear normal. Two employees with more than 1$ years sarviee are reported to have a bronchitis. i l l othar reporting companl ee state th at th eir in su lators appear healthy and th at thara have been no unusual illn e sse s aiming the group, lo resu lts of any dust survays vers raportsd although one or tw companies sta te that the inhalation exposure to asbestos is in s ig n ific a n t. I t ia pertinent to point out that the eo--called MIC for asbestos dust is 5 mppcf and th at some in vestigators consider th is valut to be too high. I t is equally important to point out th at dust con centrations belov about 5 nppef o f a ir are generally in v is ib le to the naked eye even to that of the experienced observer. Conclusion - The data obtained to date froa the Medical end health Committee la inadequate to resolve the question ss to the degree o f hazard vtaich asbestos poses to refinery in su la to rs. T h is is so becauss the to ta l number of refin ery insulators (about 150) covered by the contributing companies' reports is in su ffic ie n t fo r re lia b le s ta tis t ic a l treatment and i t i s uncertain 'in every case that the morbidity M ortality records o f retired refin ery insulators or former refinery insulators have been included in the report#. Since the usual diagnostic errurinations are frequently inadequate to detect certain cancers in th e ir early stages, the diseaee mey not be revealed u n til I t has progressed to advanced stages la te in l i f e . To obtain an adequate population sample o f refin ery insulators for s ta tis tic a l r e lia b ility and comparison with published d ata, a t le a st 500 employees should be covered in the survey. Since there are only a r e la tiv e ly fev insulators o f long tenure in any one p lan t, the survey would require the fu ll cooperation o f at le a st 10 companies to obtain meaningful re s u lts, is a matter o f in terest, S e llk o ff reports that the expected m o rtality froa lung and plueral cancers over a 20 year period in a population o f 500-600 persons is about 6 end fo r the sene length o f tim e, the expected m ortality from neoplasm o f the stomach, colon and rectum is about 9 fo r the same sise population. _3 . HOU 000039 u x ! q0 3 0 TEXWU 005077 \aia_t c y rt-muaa 5: Buad ca u u p e rio stl obtarrntlon o f ln a u la tln g a c tiT itit , i t i t * o p in io n that the in h a la tio n arpeaurt to a t b a t t o t aaong rafln ary insu lator i t n e ith e r Minimal nor in s ig n ific a n t and 1 urge th t M edical and Haaltb Coanltt c to contin ue atudylng th ia p o ta n tia l health problan . C - I - HOU 000040 TEX 10 0 3 9 TEXWU 005078 W A .T F V 0103*50