Dr. G. W. Gibbs to John H. Marsh on Fiber Counts and Asbestos Safety Garments (1974)

A two-page letter of January 29, 1974, from Dr. G. W. Gibbs, assistant professor in McGill University's Department of Epidemiology and Health in Montreal, to John H. Marsh of Raybestos-Manhattan, which was paying for his study of fiber released from asbestos safety garments. Gibbs explained his fiber-counting methods and wrote that the levels found at "Plant 2" raised "a serious problem." He reminded Marsh that "we agreed in our contract that the results of our studies would not be published until one year from submission of the final report to Raybestos-Manhattan," and asked for ideas on making garment makers aware that some garments produced "fairly high concentrations of asbestos in a man's breathing zone."

What it shows

"There is no doubt in my mind that it should be impossible for a man to be unknowingly exposed to fibre concentrations exceeding those permitted in an asbestos industry," Gibbs wrote. He proposed testing garments coated inside and out, noting that some garments tested at Plant 1 would exceed the 2 fiber standard if men wore them more often, and further study of Raybestos-Manhattan's Novatex fabric. Marsh circulated another copy of this letter with the full report in his memo of March 1, 1974.

In Johns-Manville's index

Johns-Manville's legal department indexed the Motley 1,000 in 1984. Its index describes this document as follows:

Dr. G.W. Gibbs (Assistant Professor, McGill University) letter to J.H. Marsh, 1/29/74, regarding the McGill study into the health hazards of wearing asbestos cloth safety garments. Dr. Gibbs states that McGill has not yet concluded its study on this subject, but that he "would like to insure that companies manufacturing asbestos safety garments are made aware that garments do exist which give rise to fairly high concentrations of asbestos in a man's breathing zone."

Related documents

• John H. Marsh to P. G. Dolan and Others with the McGill Safety Garment Report (1974)

About this copy

This is document 643 of the Motley 1,000, from the set the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust's records facility certified as true copies, pages CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002226 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002227.