B. W. Luttenberger of Raybestos-Manhattan to H. M. Jackson on What Industrial Hygiene Information to Release (1954)

A two-page letter of May 13, 1954, from B. W. Luttenberger, works manager of Raybestos-Manhattan, to H. M. Jackson, manager of Johns-Manville's industrial health program and chairman of the Asbestos Textile Institute's Air Hygiene Committee, answering Jackson's question about what hygiene information should go to those who ask. Engineering details of dust control could be shared, and dust-counting methods were being worked out with the Travelers Insurance Company and the federal government. On medical matters, "each Industry should fully cooperate and give all medical information pertinent to Asbestosis to an organized medical group," and confidential information should come only from that group.

What it shows

Luttenberger added: "We feel confident that such a Medical Group will not release any information that may create, in the minds of the public or of employees, a feeling that the Asbestos Industry is a hazardous one." He noted that the asbestosis literature, from the Saranac experimental studies to the Public Health Service and Metropolitan Life studies and Merewether's report, had "all" been issued by medical groups. The letter shows a leading member of the industry proposing that medical findings reach the public only through a channel that would not alarm workers. The Institute's founding is described in the 1944 organization minutes.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

Johns-Manville's own chronology of what the company knew describes this document as follows:

B.W. Luttenberger (Raybestos-Manhattan Works Manager) letter to Jackson, 5/13/54, discussing what information regarding industrial hygiene should be furnished by ATI to those inquiring. Luttenberger states that engineering information (detailed descriptions of asbestos dust (elimination systems) should be furnished to ATI members. Information regarding procedures and equipment for dust counting is being developed by Travelers and the Federal Government. Regarding medical information, Luttenberger states that "each industry should fully cooperate and give all medical information pertinent to asbestosis to an organized medical group" and "any confidential information released should come only from this Medical Group." Luttenberger states that he is "confident that such a medical group will not release any information that may create, in the minds of the public or of employees, a feeling that the Asbestos Industry is a hazardous one."

Related documents

• Minutes of the Organization Meeting of the Asbestos Textile Institute (1944)