W. G. Hazard of Owens-Illinois to the Industrial Hygiene Foundation on Studying Kaylo Dust (1948)

A two-page letter of December 14, 1948, from W. G. Hazard of the Industrial Relations Division of the Owens-Illinois Glass Company to J. F. McMahon, managing director of the Industrial Hygiene Foundation of America in Pittsburgh. Hazard explains that Kaylo, an insulating block made by the Owens-Illinois subsidiary American Structural Products Company, is made from silica flour, diatomaceous earth, hydrated lime and asbestos, and that animal tests showed no silicosis but "indications have appeared, however, that Kaylo dust will cause asbestosis in animals." He asks the foundation to take on a study: more inhalation experiments, air sampling in Owens-Illinois plants, and air sampling in customers' plants to learn "whether much of the asbestos fiber is dispersed in the air."

What it shows

Hazard called Kaylo "a very important product to us now" and wrote that the company wanted to know its health effects on its own workers and on "customers and applicators, and other people who handle it in the field." He suggested the fibers might be loosened only by sawing and grinding. The letter came four weeks after Saranac's Arthur Vorwald had told Owens-Illinois that Kaylo produced asbestosis in animals and that this conclusion was "final rather than tentative" (Vorwald's letter of November 16, 1948).

About this copy

The letter is signed "Bill." The writer is identified as W. G. Hazard from the faint initials in the typist's line.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

On 12/14/48, Owens-Illinois asked IHF to sample for levels of Kaylo dust in customer plants (especially sawing and grinding operations). Unclear whether J-M was aware of OI's concern.

Related documents

• Arthur J. Vorwald to Owens-Illinois on Kaylo Causing Asbestosis in Animals (1948)