Leroy U. Gardner to Sumner Simpson on the Effects of Water and Dilute Alkalies on Asbestos (1941)

A one-page letter of June 26, 1941, from Dr. Leroy U. Gardner, director of Saranac Laboratory, to Sumner Simpson, president of Raybestos-Manhattan. "In connection with our study of asbestosis," Gardner wrote, he had become interested in "the effects of water and dilute alkalies upon this mineral," which he recalled Simpson calling a technical problem the company had dealt with. He asked to be referred to someone in the industry who knew of any studies, since he had "found very little in the literature."

What it shows

Dr. Leroy Gardner was still working on the asbestos dust experiments that Raybestos-Manhattan and the other textile companies paid for, and turned to the industry for technical knowledge about the fiber itself. Simpson answered with a company laboratory report (his letter of July 18). A handwritten note dated 7/18/41 appears to pass the letter to Fred Wheadon for comment.

In Johns-Manville's index

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

Requests that any information available on the effects of water and dilute alkalies on asbestos be passed on to Saranac Lab. Expresses interest in any published materials on this subject.

Related documents

• Sumner Simpson to Leroy U. Gardner Sending a Laboratory Report on Water and Alkalies (1941)

About this copy

This is document 04653 of the Sumner Simpson Papers, as numbered in the collection's index.