John H. Marsh to A. A. Cross of Cape Asbestos on Comments About Fiber Types, with Cape's Crocidolite and Amosite Paper (1974)

A 13-page bundle. On March 12, 1974, John H. Marsh of Raybestos-Manhattan wrote to Alex Cross of the Cape Asbestos Company in London that he had told Gerry Morgan he thought Cross "had a valid point and that AIA/NA should be much more circumspect in commenting on variations in hazard potential between various types of fiber." Behind the letter are a December 18, 1973 letter from C. G. Morgan, vice president of the North American Asbestos Corporation, to Robert H. Mereness of the Asbestos Information Association/North America (AIA/NA), and the Cape position paper on blue (crocidolite) and amosite asbestos that Morgan enclosed. Morgan wrote of "tendencies in some areas to segregate Blue and Amosite asbestos into a separate category, as opposed to Chrysotile, when related to health hazards."

What it shows

The Cape paper, dated December 11, 1973, reviewed the evidence linking crocidolite to mesothelioma, starting with the 1960 Wagner study in South Africa, and described amosite as the fiber "most frequently used by insulation workers." It said wartime conditions in many U.S. and European insulation factories "were very bad by today's standards" and that "the health of many workpeople has suffered in consequence of this." Its conclusion was that disease followed heavy, uncontrolled exposure, not fiber type: "There does not seem to be any evidence that where such high concentrations are prevented or do not arise, that there is any greater risk of asbestos-related disease with one kind of asbestos than with another." Morgan offered the paper for circulation to association members and to "selected people in OSHA."

In Johns-Manville's index

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

J.B. Marsh letter to A.A. Cross (Cape Asbestos Company, England), 3/12/74, agreeing with Cross that the "AIA/NA should be more circumspect in commenting on variations in hazard potential between various types of fiber." G.G. Morgan (Vice-President, North American Asbestos Corporation) letter to R.H. Mereness (AIA), 12/18/73, enclosing Cape Asbestos' position paper on the health effects of crocidolite and amosite asbestos fibers. The position paper includes a discussion of disease in insulation workers.

About this copy

This is document 640 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-002211 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002223.