Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Report of a Dust Study of Raybestos-Manhattan's Charleston Plant (1930)

A 30-page report on dust at the Charleston, South Carolina, plant of the General Asbestos & Rubber Division of Raybestos-Manhattan, made in January 1930 by the Industrial Health Service of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. It was the second in a series of Metropolitan Life studies of the asbestos industry in the United States and Canada. The investigators counted dust at each department and, without giving physical examinations, watched the men for signs of disease and saw none. They credited an oil spray, humidifiers and exhausts for low counts outside the preparation room and concluded that "the danger of a pulmonary health hazard is very remote."

What it shows

The report itself warns that its clinical observations were limited "in the absence of physical examination," and it still recommends yearly examinations of everyone in asbestos processes. When Metropolitan Life examined and X-rayed workers at Raybestos-Manhattan's other plants a few weeks later, it found asbestosis: see Manheim and Bridgeport and Stratford.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

Met Life study of dust counts at Raybestos plant in Charleston, SC done in January, 1930. used impinger and electric precipitator methods to collect dust. recommends extending use of exhaust, oiling, and humidifying systems wherever possible in plant, making physical examinations of employees engaged in asbestos processes yearly, and replace blown air cleaning method with vacuum system. reported low dust counts due to oil spray being used to hold asbestos particles together as well as humidifying and exhaust systems. reported no detected symptoms of asbestosis among workers observed during sampling process.

Related documents

• Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Report on a Dust Survey of the Manville Plant (1929)
• Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, A Study of Dust Conditions in Raybestos-Manhattan's Manheim Plant (1930)
• Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, A Study of Dust Conditions in Raybestos-Manhattan's Bridgeport and Stratford Plants (1930)