H. A. Boisclair to H. G. Donovan on U.S. Mineral Products and Caution Labels on Spray Fiber Bags (1968)

A one-page memo of January 29, 1968, from H. A. Boisclair of Johns-Manville to H. G. Donovan of J-M Research, copied to C. B. Burnett, K. V. Lindell and N. W. Hendry, reporting on a visit to U.S. Mineral Products Company, a maker of sprayed mineral fiber. Boisclair writes that its C.A.F.C.O. bag had been carrying a caution notice on asbestos fiber "for years," and that the Sprayed Mineral Fibre Manufacturers Association was about to issue a press release saying "any worker within 10 ft. of mixing or spraying area must wear a mask." He also found that bags of J-M J-Spray, which U.S. Mineral Products had made under the J-M label until January 1968, carried a caution label too.

What it shows

The J-M J-Spray label warned that inhaling asbestos "in excessive quantities over long periods of time may be harmful" and advised respirators approved by the U.S. Bureau of Mines. U.S. Mineral Products' president had not known it was there; Boisclair concludes, "So, it appears that we went further than U. S. M. did with their own bags." The memo shows that a competitor's asbestos bags were labeled by early 1968, that a trade group was about to tell the public sprayers needed masks, and that J-M staff considered the subject "a 'Hot' subject now."

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

H.A.B. writes to H.G. Donovan (J-M Research) 1/29/68, that CAFCO has been labeling its asbestos fiber for years with a caution notice and recites the warning. Donovan also informs H.A.B. that U.S. Mineral Products plans to issue a press release stating that "any worker within 10 ft. of a mixing or spraying area must wear a mask." Donovan recalled that up until 1/68, U.S.M. was making a product for J-M under the J-M label called J-M J-Spray and wondered if bags of the product contained a caution label. Donovan discovered that they did and recites the wording. "So, it appears that we went further than U.S.M. did with their own bags."

Editor's note: J-M's description has Donovan reporting the U.S. Mineral Products press release and the J-Spray label to H.A.B. The memo runs the other way: H.A.B. (Boisclair) wrote to Donovan and reported both himself.