J. P. Woodard to H. H. Peterson on Silicosis and Lung Cancer as an Occupational Disease (1950)

A one-page "Personal and Confidential" memo of February 3, 1950, from J. P. Woodard at Johns-Manville's headquarters to H. H. Peterson, headed "Silicosis." Peterson had sent a newspaper clipping and notes of a meeting with Dr. A. R. Riddell of the Silicosis Referee Board in Toronto. Since laws in Canada and the United States were making it ever more costly to hire men with dust exposure or silicosis, Woodard wrote, J-M's job was to "examine carefully applicants for jobs and their history so as to avoid employing silicotics" and to keep its operations "in such condition that our people do not get silicosis."

What it shows

The clipping also mentioned lung cancer as an occupational disease in some industries, with a higher rate reported at a Toronto gas company. Woodard wrote that he was not sure whether J-M had "situations of a similar nature," that the question "would bear investigation," and that Dr. Kenneth W. Smith should send a memo on any similar conditions at J-M. Smith's answer named asbestos and silica (Smith to Woodard, February 7).

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

J.P. Woodard writes to H.H. Peterson on 2/3/50, regarding the need to examine carefully the health history of job applicants to avoid employing those with silicosis and emphasizes the importance of ensuring that J-M operations are kept "in such condition that employees do not get silicosis." J. Woodard discusses information sent from H. Petersen regarding a meeting with Dr. A. Riddell (Silicosis Referee Board, Toronto). Woodard states that article mentions lung cancer as an occupational disease in some industries and says he is unsure if this danger exists at J-M and that the matter "bears investigation by Dr. Smith."

A typed portion of a summary of an article from the "Toronto Star" is attached, advocating the inclusion of lung cancer in the compensable diseases category under the Compensation Act. A public inquiry which was spearheaded by Dr. W. Boyd (professor of pathology at the University of Toronto) discusses the increased incidence in the order of six times the average of lung cancer rates among gas company workers. Dr. Boyd expresses the opinion that there is a causal relationship between the exposure to cancer-producing fumes and development of disease. The rates of lung cancer in the nickel, copper, and chrome-plating industries are also noted as being above normal.

Editor's note: J-M's description refers to an attached typed summary of a Toronto Star article. That summary is not in this file, which holds only Woodard's one-page memo.