B. W. Luttenberger to Frederick W. Sands of U.S. Rubber on Manheim's Dust Control and Asbestosis Cases (1957)

A one-page letter of January 25, 1957, from B. W. Luttenberger, works manager at Raybestos-Manhattan's Manheim plant, to Frederick W. Sands, industrial hygienist at the United States Rubber Company, answering Sands's letter of January 15 to S. R. Zimmerman, Jr. Luttenberger wrote that "We have had the problem of controlling asbestos dust for many, many years" and believed it was now "quite well under control," and that Pennsylvania treated asbestosis as an occupational disease: "we have had numerous cases but have noticed a remarkable reduction" since modern dust removal equipment went in. He described the hooded machines, exhausts and new Wheelabrator collectors, compulsory pre-employment chest X-rays and periodic re-X-rays of all textile mill employees, and the plant's own dust counting, and urged U.S. Rubber to join the Asbestos Textile Institute and its Air Hygiene Committee.

What it shows

The letter is a plain statement, from the man who ran the Manheim plant, that Raybestos-Manhattan had had "numerous" asbestosis cases there. It also shows the asbestos textile companies sharing health and dust information through the Asbestos Textile Institute's Air Hygiene Committee, where, Luttenberger wrote, members "freely exchange data pertaining to health and safety problems."

In Johns-Manville's index

Johns-Manville's attorneys indexed the Sumner Simpson Papers. Their index describes this document as follows:

Acknowledges receipt of letter dated 1/15/57 to S.R. Zimmerman. Gives outline of RM dust control/health programs. States RM has been concerned with dust control for years and now feels is under control. Informs of a remarkable reduction in cases of Asbestosis since efficient dust control measures began. All employees have pre-employment physicals which include chest x-rays. Suggests U.S. Rubber join ATI and benefit from free exchange of information regarding health and safety problems.

About this copy

This is document 05823 of the Sumner Simpson Papers, as numbered in the collection's index.