G. G. Schuknecht to C. L. Sheckler on Caution Labels for Celite Products, Not Used on Exports (1967)

A one-page memo of September 5, 1967, from G. G. Schuknecht at J-M's Lompoc, California, plant to C. L. Sheckler at the Research and Engineering Center, with a copy of the caution notice printed on the bags of all domestic Celite products that were "straight calcined and flux calcined." The notice warned that the diatomaceous silica product contained "varying percentages of inverted microcrystalline silica," that inhaling the dust "may be harmful," and that respirators approved by the U.S. Bureau of Mines were recommended. Schuknecht added: "We do not use this Caution notice or printing on export shipments."

What it shows

The warning concerns silica in Celite, J-M's diatomaceous earth, not asbestos. The memo shows that in 1967 J-M warned its domestic buyers of a dust hazard while shipping the same product abroad without the notice, as it had done with caution labels on asbestos products going to Canada (memos on removing labels from Superex for Canada, 1965). Labels for diatomaceous earth products came up again weeks later (Pocius to Wingerter, October 1967).

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

G.G. Schuknecht (Lompoc) sends to C.L. Sheckler, 9/5/67, a copy of the caution notice printed on all products that are straight calcined and flux calcined and domestically shipped. "We do not use this Caution notice or printing on export shipments."