John J. Magenheimer to John H. Marsh on Scowcroft's Memo About the McGill Study (1974)

A one-page memo of July 15, 1974, from John J. Magenheimer of Raybestos-Manhattan's Advanced Research Laboratory to John Marsh, answering M. Q. Scowcroft's memo of June 28. Magenheimer defended the McGill study: its aim was "To determine the exposure of a man to asbestos fiber during the normal use of asbestos safety garments in industry," and "this was done in a scientific manner." He agreed that most of the dust came from the hood and thought "Dr. Gibbs article can be written in such a way as to imply that surface treatment of fabrics reduces the dust levels."

What it shows

Magenheimer expected the report to be published, adding: "The only thing we can affect is the time of publication and possibly the tone." Until then, he wrote, Scowcroft's program of informing customers would help make the information public, and he suggested extending the caution "to the use of any uncoated asbestos fabric for safety garments." The memo shows the company weighing how much say it had over research it had paid for.

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.J. Magenheimer memo to J.H. Marsh, 7/15/74, entitled "McGill Study of Asbestos Safety Garments," responding to Scowcroft's memo, dated 6/28/74 (Motley Document #653). Magenheimer states that R-M's contract with Dr. Gibbs for the McGill study was "to determine the exposure of a man to asbestos fiber during the normal use of asbestos safety garments in industry." The determination of the specific source (hood, coat or mitts) is an obvious extension of the study which was not pursued for a variety of reasons. The objective of the report was to determine the dust levels under normal use, and this was done in a scientific manner. Magenheimer agrees with Scowcroft's premise that most of the dust arises from the hood. Magenheimer thinks that Dr. Gibbs' article can be written in such a way as to imply that surface treatment of fabrics reduces the dust levels. Dr. Gibbs' report will in all likelihood be published. The only thing R-M can affect is the time of publication and possibly the tone. Until the article is published, Scowcroft's program of informing his customers of hazards will assist in making this information public.

Related documents

• M. Q. Scowcroft to John H. Marsh on the McGill Study of Asbestos Safety Garments (1974)
• John H. Marsh to M. Q. Scowcroft on the McGill Study of Asbestos Safety Garments (1974)

About this copy

This is document 654 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-002264 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002264.