Document zza0gEwGXdNEr4qYorM2kKnaR

FILE NAME: Newspaper & Magazine Articles (NMA) DATE: 1966 Mar 22 DOC#: NMA006 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Memo RE Asbestos-Toxicology - Referencing "Out of Context Reporting," with Two Attached Newspaper Articles TO: T. Dougherty R. A. M i l l e r R. W. Stobaeus B. K. Barton T. R. van F l e e t N. J. S e t t e r R. T. Larkin K. W ei G. WJSr*1-- DATE: S t a r c h 2 2 ^ 9 6 6 'fi*Q v CC: L. S . O'Rourke SUBJECT: A sb estos - T oxicology T. J. Hall H. F. R eichard/R . G. Woolery J . A. R id d le . J. Derbecker P. R. Cheston T. F, Frangos Gentlemen : Early in March the "New York Times" and the "Herald Tribune", r e p o r t in g the e s ta b lis h m e n t o f a new environm ental h e a lt h la b o ra to ry a t Mt. S in a i H o sp ita l (New York C i t y ) , revived some p u b l i c i t y (copy a tta ch ed ) in regard to A sb estos d u st a s a h e a lt h hazard. We understand th a t a few newspapers in other c i t i e s picked i t up. "Out o f co n tex t" r e p o r tin g le a d s to erroneous c o n c l u s io n s , and t h i s i s no e x c e p t i o n . N e v e r t h e l e s s , we should reckon th a t such a commentary w i l l r e c u r , and a l l o f us should u se the t o o l we now have a t our d is p o s a l to make c e r t a i n our custom ers a re acq u ain ted w ith the f a c t s : 1. You have c o p ie s o f Dr. D e m e h l ' s "A sbestos T ox ic o lo g y Report." A dditional co p ie s are en clo sed . Use t h e s e , and c a l l p a r tic u la r a t t e n t i o n to Dr. D e m e h l ' s sta tem en ts in regard to "Threshold Limit Value"fJr asbestos. Control of asbestos dust exposure is n ecessary, as is con trol o f exposure to any o f a v a riety of dusty operations. 2. Union Carbide p e l l e t s o f f e r a c l e a r - c u t means o f handling a sb esto s under ex c e p tio n a lly low du6t c o n d itio n s. 3. No work y e t conducted or p u b lish ed p r e s e n t s , nor p r o fesses to present, incontrovertible proof of a relationship between cancer and a s b e s t o s . Some p u b l i c a t i o n s have r e ferred to the a s s o c ia t io n o f d e le t e r io u s organ ic compounds, among them j u t e o i l s from j u t e sa ck in g m a t e r i a l, and 3 , 4 b en zo(a) p yren e. We do n ot u se j u t e b a g s . F u rth er, we are UCC 020800 - 2- a n a ly z in g tandom samples o f our p rod u ct, and e x p e c t s h o r t ly to prove the absence o f any p o ly cy clic aromatics. Your p e l l e t e d a s b e s t o s a f f o r d s customers the b e s t means o f avoid in g d u st hazard s. Make t h i s c l e a r . Very tru ly yours, A.E.Pufahl/dh Enclosures UCC 020801 <f- >t| TL\s s m paiJlC inj^ LUC -.w ,, n - ------- -Asbestos Dust Called a Hazard: f ;! To at Le^st One-Fourth of U, 5. . ny .ia n k n. nnoD V i Asbestos .ust, which has al structlon workers and their ready been connected with families. the development of fatal can According to the findings of ter in. one-halt of asbestos three recent limited studies, the workers, may be a ' potential dangers might extend to the health hazard for one-quarter general poj,puu,liautiuo,,n. 'Tuhre ostiuduiiews., of the population, or more, it which, involved autopsies on was reported yesterday. 1,100 persons in three cities,^ This preliminary finding was showed that 25 per cent of thel, described by Dr. Irving j. .Sell- people had asbestos lodged in[` koff in onnouncclng the estab- their lungs. P lishment of ' an environmental .health laboratory at Mount ISinai Hospital. The laboratory Iwill further investigate the dangers to man of asbestos and pother environmental contaml i.nants. Dr. Selikoff said the link between cancer and asbestos had led him to suspect that other mineral dusts . that con Dr.-Sellkoff explained t h a t ' the studies had used a "crude technique" that disclosed only those asbestos fibers that had ` become coated by an iron-rich ` material while lodged in the ' . lungs. A more refined technique now shows th at ma: persons harbor noncoated asbestos fi- . bers as well, he said. j : Now Study Started ( taminate both urban and rural air might create medical haz ards for the public. The new laboratory will be headed by Dr. Sellkoff who, with Dr. J >b Churg, found that asbcsti workers eventu al! showed to seven times th normal death rate from lung cancer and three times the nor mal death rate from cancer of the stomach, coloq and rectum. t>r. Selikoff and his col- * leagues at the new laboratory l have started a three-year study In which they will: 1 . <JExamine, with the dc- l ceased's family's approval, the j lung tissue of the from 3,000 ton 4,000 persons expected to die in | the next two years at Mount Sinai, Elmhurst Hospital and j Veterans Hospital in the Bronx.r The doctors will look for un- " 0 tlicr Workers Affected Dr. ScUkofi noted that the dangers of exnosurc to asbestos dust were n -mited to "tb.ise who work directly with this ubiquitous Insulator and filler material. The dangers, he said, extend to workers in "contigu ous trades," such aa other con- coated as well as coated asbes tos fibers in the tissues. 1i. ; Shook for correlations be- v , tween the causes of death and h the presence of asbestos fibers g ; In lung tissue. ^Determine the occupatlon.-illtl history of the deceased and their u relatives and other pertinent V background Information. p Asbestos is a fibrous mineral S' highly valued for its noncor rosive and long-wearing prop P erties. In addition to its common t use as a fireproof material, Dr. t Selikoff said, asbestos makes up a about 50 per cent of asphalt h tile and Is used in dental cement, F brake linings, plastics, beer fil 6 ters, gas masks and paper. Until 1 last year, some schools used tl asbestos dust instead of sand st for children to play In. wr ; Study Links i " Asbestos To Cancer !; ' , By Earl U bell Sclanci; Editor Scientists have known ior | ft long time th at asbestos . ! was bad for your lungs. Now .' ; a study of New York City i workers, both roofers and i, .Insulation blowers, reveals h th a t exposure to the mineral sends lung-cancer death ; \ , rates skyrocketing, i1? The figures--gathered by .' . doctors at Mount Sinai Hos! I pita)--show th at such work- ers have eight times the lung' cancer death rate as would .be expected in a non-exposed , population. More suprlslngly, the stud- , : . les reveal th at such workers i. run four times the rick of i ' getting cancer In other parts | of tho body, with cancer of the colon particularly singled out. For all other diseases, J'.; the insulation workers have ! the samB death rate as the , -rest of the population. These findings were em- phaslzed yesterday by Dr. Irving J. Selikoff, head 1of Mt. Sinai's Division of Envi ronmental Medicine,' on the : , occasion of the establlsh- ment of an environmental i health laboratory in the hos- pital. The laboratory has received grants totaling $324,; 000 from the United States ' Public Health Service and ., | the New York City Health ! Research Council. Dr. Selikoff also pointed out th at cigarette smoking seems to heighten the effects I of the asbestos. Among 130 J men exposed to asbestos 20 years or more who were non- ' smokers, he found one lung- cancer . death among 310 smokers, 21 such deaths. UCC 020802