Connecticut Department of Health, Asbestos Dust Study of Raybestos-Manhattan's Stratford Plant (1934)

A six-page report dated May 4, 1934, from the Bureau of Occupational Diseases of the Connecticut State Department of Health on dust samples taken December 12, 1933, at Raybestos-Manhattan's Stratford plant, signed by industrial hygienist Warren A. Cook and Dr. Albert S. Gray, the bureau's director. Using an impinger and the U.S. Public Health Service counting method, it found most workers exposed to low dust levels but high counts at the external brake grinder (22.7 million particles per cubic foot), loading the beater (13.6), and opening and pulverizing raw and scrap asbestos (10.3 to 16.7). It recommended exhaust and other fixes, and "physical examination including X-ray of all new employees."

What it shows

The state hygienists counted all particles "since asbestos fibres longer than ten microns have been demonstrated in lung tissue." They recommended the X-rays of new employees "both for the protection of the man himself and also for protecting the Company." Metropolitan Life had surveyed the same plant in 1930 (its Bridgeport and Stratford study).

In Johns-Manville's index

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

"Asbestos Dust Study Stratford Plant Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc., Bridgeport, Conn." Study used impinger method and counted samples using USPHS standard technique. Most workers exposed to low dust levels. Workers engaged in preliminary operations, loading the beater, and operating the external brake grinder exposed to higher dust levels. Problem areas could be eliminated with better ventilation and exhaust systems. Physicals and X-Rays of new employees recommended.

About this copy

This is document 02006-02011 of the Sumner Simpson Papers, as numbered in the collection's index.