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A one-page letter of October 15, 1949, from Dr. Arthur J. Vorwald, director of the Saranac Laboratory, to Dr. Kenneth W. Smith of Canadian Johns-Manville at Asbestos, Quebec. Following up a recent discussion, Vorwald asked whether Saranac could review X-rays of the men employed at Asbestos over past years "to ascertain the incidence of primary pulmonary malignancy" and compare the findings with Saranac's autopsy statistics. The problem, he wrote, "is of great concern to us," and he wanted to begin as quickly as possible so that an opinion could be formed "on factual evidence concerning the relationship of the inhalation of dust to such malignancy."
- Author
- Arthur J. Vorwald, M.D.
- Sent to
- Kenneth W. Smith
- Published by
- Saranac Laboratory
- Date
- October 15, 1949
- Library no.
- ACL Doc 11089 · asbestosclaims.law/library/11089
- Rights
- Republished under fair use for research and historical study.
Read or download
Read online Download the PDF Letter, October 15, 1949 · 1 pages · 35 KB
What it shows
In March, Smith had recommended getting Saranac's opinion on asbestosis and cancer (Smith to Foster). By this time Saranac's own autopsy index listed several asbestosis cases with lung cancer, including a J-M worker who died in May 1949 (the autopsy records). Leroy Gardner had written of the need for a separate cancer study in 1946 (Gardner's memo).
In Johns-Manville's chronology
Johns-Manville's own chronology of what the company knew describes this document as follows:
Vorwald urges J-M (K. Smith), on 10/15/49, to commission asbestos cancer link study, wants to correlate Quebec X-rays with Saranac's existing autopsy statistics for the workers.
Related documents
Cited on this site
- Arthur J. Vorwald and Kenneth W. Smith on Lung Cancer Among Canadian J-M Workers (1950)
- Asbestos Timeline
- E. R. A. Merewether, The Pneumokonioses
- J. P. Woodard to Kenneth W. Smith on Dr. Lanza's View of Merewether's Paper (1950)
- Kenneth W. Smith to C. M. McGaw on Dr. Lanza's Lung Cancer Study Contract (1950)
- Kenneth W. Smith to George K. Foster on the Saranac Report (1949)
- Kenneth W. Smith to J. P. Woodard Naming Asbestos and Silica as Possible Causes of Lung Cancer (1950)
- Kenneth W. Smith to K. V. Lindell Urging a Study of Asbestos and Lung Cancer (1950)
- Paul Cartier to Arthur J. Vorwald on the Petrographic Study of Eight Asbestos Dust Samples (1950)
- The Johns-Manville Knowledge Chronology
Cite this document
“Arthur J. Vorwald to Kenneth W. Smith on Reviewing Asbestos X-Rays for Lung Cancer.” October 15, 1949. Saranac Laboratory. AsbestosClaims.Law Library, ACL Doc 11089. https://asbestosclaims.law/library/11089.
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