Dr. Kenneth W. Smith to L. J. Lambert of Insulation Industries (Canada) on an Alleged Asbestosis Case (1957)

A two-page letter of May 9, 1957, from Dr. Kenneth W. Smith, J-M's medical director, to L. J. Lambert, vice president of Insulation Industries (Canada) Ltd. in Vancouver, who had asked about a former employee's alleged asbestosis and how to protect his workers. Smith doubts the man could have developed asbestosis in one year of work outside the mixing operations, writing that "the mere presence" of a few asbestos fibers in lung tissue "cannot support a diagnosis of clinical asbestosis." He adds that in J-M's mines and mills, with about 2,000 workers, "we are developing no cases of asbestosis today," and that periodic chest X-rays "confirm the fact that our employees are not being harmed by their work."

What it shows

Smith cites the 1951 Saranac Laboratory experiments reported by Dr. Arthur Vorwald as showing that "asbestosis does not progress after exposure ceases," and takes the man's disability, eight years after he left, as a further sign that his work there was not the cause. He credits J-M's record to material handling, local ventilation and keeping dust under the 5 million particles per cubic foot level recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. Smith made the same no-new-cases statement to another company that September (Smith to Stumpf).

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

Letter from Kenneth Smith to L.J. Lambert, Insulation Industries (Canada) Ltd., 5/9/57, in response to a letter seeking Smith's "Comments concerning a case of alleged asbestosis and also for information on the protection of your employees." Smith enclosed an article, commented on the alleged asbestosis case and stated: "We are developing no cases of Asbestosis to date. This is made possible through proper material handling methods and local ventilation at a dust source so that the atmospheric contamination does not exceed the 5 million particles per cubic foot recommended by the ACGIH. Dust counts taken during routine industrial hygiene surveys provide a check on our operating procedures. In addition, periodic physical examinations including chest x-rays confirm the fact that our employees are not being harmed by their work. I am sure that these precautions, modified to suit your special needs, will provide adequate protection for your employees."