S. P. Griffin to Alan R. Dennis on the History of Caution Labels on Asbestos Fiber Bags (1978)

A one-page memo of June 12, 1978, from S. P. Griffin to Alan R. Dennis at J-M's Denver headquarters, tracing caution labels on asbestos fiber bags through the files of the Asbestos Fiber Division's sales office and Jeffrey purchasing. The first label was printed in January 1966 on the J-M 352 cement bag, and between December 1968 and March 1969 all three paper bag suppliers began printing it, "with the exception of the five (5) ply 'export' bags." Jute bags, used mainly for export, never carried a label, and woven poly bags bought from December 1971 went without one until April 1974.

What it shows

Griffin dates bilingual labels to 1975 and a six-language label, drawn up in April 1976, to late 1977. The second file is that April 1976 memo, in which D. Poutiatine urges replacing the Italian version with Dutch, since J-M shipped far more fiber to Holland (16,180 tons in 1975) than to Italy and Holland had strict pollution controls; a handwritten note agrees. Together they show that for years J-M's export shipments of fiber went unlabeled. For how the fiber label began, see the 1968 proposal for a caution label on fiber bags and the 1969 exchange on labels for export fiber.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

Memorandum from S.P. Griffin to Alan R. Dennis, 6/12/78, summarizing the use of caution labels as evidenced in the files of A.F.D. Sales and Jeffrey Purchasing. The first label was used in 1966 on J-M 352 Cement Bags. Between 1968 and 1969 all three paper bag suppliers to Jeffrey commenced printing labels on the backs of bags, "with the exception of the five (5) ply 'export' bags." Jute bags were never labeled, but were used for export shipments. The first woven poly bags were received in December, 1971 without caution labels and were so used until April 9, 1974. After April 11, 1974 all bags were ordered with the printed caution label. Bilingual labels came into use in 1975; and a 6 language version was drafted in April of 1976 and implemented in late 1977.