Dr. Kenneth W. Smith's Public Statement on Health Conditions in Asbestos, Quebec (1949)

A two-page statement issued at Asbestos, Quebec, on May 20, 1949, by Dr. Kenneth W. Smith, chief medical officer of Canadian Johns-Manville's operations there, to answer what he called "considerable misunderstanding and confusion in the public's mind" about asbestos dust and health. Smith said the company had taken more than 80,000 X-rays of employees since 1935, that there was "definitely no association" between asbestosis and tuberculosis, and that only two cases of asbestosis had been recognized by medical science in Asbestos in the last fifty years. He added that the company had spent more than $1,000,000 on dust control and that it had no mines or mills in the Thetford Mines district.

What it shows

The statement came during the Asbestos Strike of 1949 and after newspaper reports on tuberculosis in the mining district (Dr. Parrot's letter). Three months earlier, Smith's confidential survey of 708 of the company's own mill men had found 7 with early asbestosis and 52 more he counted as probable compensation claims (the 708-man survey). In his confidential comments to George Foster in March, he wrote that he could "neither accept nor deny" that asbestosis had no effect on tuberculosis that developed on top of it (Smith to Foster).

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

On 5/20/49, Dr. Kenneth Smith issues a statement regarding health conditions in Asbestos. This statement is made because Dr. Smith feels that there has been a considerable misunderstanding and confusion by the public regarding the effect of asbestos on health. Dr. Smith states that his comments are based on his close study of all health conditions in the community of Asbestos and a careful physical exam of all CJM employees. Since 1935, J-M has taken more than 80,000 x-rays of employees. They are on file at CJM's clinic and are available for study by all recognized authorities. Once a year all regular employees are given X-rays. There is no association between tuberculosis and asbestosis. There have only been two cases of asbestosis recognized by medical science in Asbestos in the last 50 years. J-M has spent more than $1 million on dust control. Dust counts taken in Asbestos by health authorities show that in a normal operating day, nuisance dust in the streets compares favorably with that of other industrial areas in Canada.

Related documents

• X-Ray Readings of Canadian Johns-Manville Workers at Asbestos, Quebec (1944)
• Deposition of Dr. Kenneth W. Smith in Louisville Trust Company v. Johns-Manville on Dust at Asbestos, Quebec (1976)