Document zo0Ka49nKa2qgZ7QN5Gm8RpD3
FILE NAME: Union Carbide (UC)
DATE: 1966 Mar 22
DOC#: UC200
DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Memo RE Asbestos Toxicology with Attached Newspaper Articles About Asbestos Linked to Cancer
( " T lS n t f f s V, EXHIBIT I
M E M O R A N D U M r;
TO: M essrs. T. Dougherty
ft. A. M ille r ft. V. Stobaeua B. K. Barton T. R. van P le a t N. J . S e tte r ft. T. Larkin
3 ***#. ^
DATS: .M arch 2 2 ^ 9 6 6
A
'SA~
CC:
L. S. O'Rourke
T. J . Hall
SUBJECT: Aabeatoa Toxicology
H. P . R alchard/R . G. Woolery
J . A. R iddle i / ''
J . Derbecker
P. R. C heatoa
T. P. Frangoa
Gentlemen:
,, _
tn Kerch th e "Hew York T inea" and the "H erald Tribune'*
? ~ b U . 6 - o f now o n w l ^ n r . !
uL S S T m
th ie i . n ,, '! UC i COntext" p o t t i n g leada to erroneoua con clu alo n a, and
JiVtl: M k a
11 UB ,h ould "
to o l we now have a t our d isp o s a l 2
aka c e rta in our customers are acquainted w ith the fac ta:
*
to
C? PiC* f D r* DerT'e h 1 '1 "Aabeatoa Toxicology R e p o rt."
a tte n tio n f>Cn ""n*** *" tlo a e d . Uae th e a e . and c a l l p a r t i c u l a r
f" "
wD-r ' Dernehl tatem enta In regard to "Thre ahold
T ~ ` ! IW f " r *b >to a . C ontrol o f aabeatoa du at p o e u re
duaty o**p,e*rraytlJo n**a . l * contro1 o f p o tire to any o f a v a rie ty7 o f
C*rb td e Pe l l e c * o f f e r a c le a r - c u t mean o f handling aabeatoa under e x c e p tio n a lly low d u at c o n d ltio n a .
J . no work y e t conducted or publiahed p resence, nor pro-
b ! 2 ! ! ,, C0 P re ,< m t' f e e o n tro v e r tlb le pro o f o f a re la tio n a h lp **beatoa. Some p u b lic a tio n s have r e
fe rre d to the a s so c ia tio n o f d e le te rio u s organic compounds, among them ju te o i l s from ju te sacking m a te ria l, and 3 ,4
- * o (a ) p y r e n e . We do n o t uae j u ca bagi> F u tth a t> w a r a
-2-
analyzing tandoa aanplea of our product, and axpact hortly to prove the abaeace of any polycyclic aromatic*.
,, . TUr P*,11*6?4 *ib *t0 * a ffo rd * cuatotM ra th e b e a t nwana o f avoiding
duac hazard * . Hake th i* c l e a r ,
*
'
Very tr u ly youra,
A.E.Pufahl/dh
P
Encloaurea
Pv
* e
*
S'| nsts ui iwmiong u*i
jl4.s5esios Dust Called a H a z a r d {
To at Le^st One-Fourth of U, S.
i
--------------------------------- ,,
t
t 8* nnoDV
.Uit, which h il il-iitrucUon worker* end their
rcxly been ucountntefcjtrefd with families.
the development of fatal cu> According to the findings of
Mr in onc*luit of asbestos three recent limited studies, the
rker*, may be a ' potential dancers might extend to the
scalth hazard for one-quarter seneni population. The studies,,
ot the population or mart, it,iwhich Involved autopsies onI
** reported yesterday.
MOO persona la three cttlcs,;,
TW* preliminary finding u ahowed that 2S per cent of thefi
described by Dr. Irving 3. Seli- people had asbestos lodged inj'
koff In announeeing the estab their lungs.
.
,
lishment of an environmental Dr. Sellkoff explained th a t1
health laboratory at
the studies had used a "crude '
Ia n ti Hospital. The laboratory technique" that disclosed only
]will further Investigate the those asbestos Abets that bad
Id-ngers to man of asbeatoe and become coated by an lron-nch
i,other environmental eontaml- material while lodged in the
lUnti.
lungs. A more refined technique
Dr. Sellkoff aald the link now show* that ma. , persons
between cancer and asbestos harbor noncoated asbestos A
bad led him to suspect that bars as well, he txld.
other mineral dusts that con
New Study Started
taminate both urban and air might create medical
rural ZDUr.,
SS?eTll*ko"ff J"a*n4d,
5h`*is
c*o*t
arts for the public.
*1 }** new laboratory
The headed
nebwyv*
KrT>Vr.t
oSe-eriliyluk,o./f*fU1w---hbo-,.
t"*ai fw""hthjeSy w^illl. ^
y* "
^
with Dr. J .b Churg, found <3Examine, with the de
that asbest,
vorkers
eventu
ceased's family's lung tissue of the
approval, trie from 3.000 to
al! v
showed to seven lime* normal death rate from lung
<000
persons
expected
to
die
in
cancer
and
three
times
the
nor
the next two years at Mount Sinai. Elmhurst Hospital and
mal death rate from cancer of the stomarh. colon and rectum.
Veterans
Hospital
in
the
Bronx..
Other Worker* Affected
The doctors will look fur un- " coated im welt as coated asbes
Sc!]kofl notol hat the tos fibers in the tissues.
)
dangers of nature to *****<} OLook for correlations be- v
dust were n mtted to tl so tween the causes of death and h
wi , ^ rk directly with this the presence of asbestos fibers g
ublqul^ua Insulator and filler la lung tissue.
a
ho aid. <3Determine the occupational tt
extend to workers in "contiru- history of the deceased and their u
ous trades, such as other oon- relatives and other pertinent v
background Information.
p
Asbestos Is a fibrous mineral *
highly valued for Its noncor
rosive and long-wearing prep- p
erties. In addition to its common t
use as a fireproof material. Dr. t
Sellkoff said, asbestos makes up j
about SO per cent of asphalt b
tile and la used In dental cement, p
brake linings, plastics, beer fll- g
ten, gas masks and paper. Until l
last year, some schools used tl
asbestos dust instead of sand n
for children to play in.
wt
j Study Links
J| Asbestos'
To Cancer
I
By Earl Ubetl
|
defence editor
Scientists have known for
j * long Amo that asbestos
I wai bad for your lungs. Now
| a study of New York City I worker*, both roofers and
I Insulation blowers, reveals
. that exposure to the mineral
I tends lung-cancer death i i rates skyrocketing.
T ie figures--gathered by i doctors at Mount Sinai Hosi i piCal---how that such work-
I era have eight times ths lungcancer death rata as would
be expected In a non-expo*ed - population.
More supristngly, the stud ies reveal that such workers run four times ths risk of j getting cancer lit other parts ! of the body, pith cancer of the colon particularly singled out. For all ether diseases, the Insulation workers have the tame death rata as ths , rest of the population.
These findings were em ' phasfxed yesterday by Dr.
Trvlng J. Sellkoff, head of M t Sinai'S Division of Envi ronmental Medicine, on the occasion of the establish ' tnent of an environmental health laboratory in the hos pital. The laboratory has received grants totaling 0324.*
J, 000 from the United States
' Public Health Servlet and the New York City Health
i Research Council.
,
Dr. Sellkoff also pointed
out that cigarette smoking
seems to heighten the effects
| of the asbestos. Among 130
1 men exposed to asbestos 20
yean or more who were non smokers, he found one lungcancer . death among n o smoker. 21 such