J. P. Woodard to George K. Foster on Dr. Smith's Comments on the Saranac Report (1949)

A personal and confidential one-page memo of April 15, 1949, from J. P. Woodard at J-M's General Headquarters to George K. Foster, on Dr. Ken Smith's summary and comments on the Saranac report "Asbestos Pneumoconiosis" (Smith to Foster). Woodard thought the most significant finding was "that a relatively small amount of long fibres can cause lung damage," and wrote: "It is important that we arrange to determine where long fibres may exist in the working atmosphere, whether the amount is enough to cause harm, and take action to eliminate them." He added that Vandiver Brown recalled Dr. Gardner describing the harmful fibres as "under 10 microns in greatest diameter" rather than 5 to 15 microns long.

What it shows

Woodard asked where Smith's figures on fibre lengths in the mills came from, and said headquarters planned to use Smith's study "in acquainting some of our other plants with this Saranac study." Copies went to Vandiver Brown, A. R. Fisher, Smith and Ivan Sabourin, and the memo is stamped "NOTED V. B." The report is Asbestos Pneumoconiosis.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

Woodard memorandum to G.K. Foster dated 4/15/49. Woodard comments on Dr. Smith's summary of 3/19/49 and on Dr. Gardner's study. Woodard states that the most significant finding of the study is that a relatively small amount of long fibers can cause lung damage. Woodard states that "it is important that we arrange to determine where long fibers may exist in the working atmosphere, whether the amount is enough to cause harm, and take action to eliminate them."

Related documents

• Kenneth W. Smith to George K. Foster on the Saranac Report (1949)