S. Speil, Memo for File on a Visit to General Motors' Inland Division About Brake Lining Wear Dust (1970)

A four-page memo for file of September 8, 1970, from S. Speil of Johns-Manville's Research & Engineering Center, on his August 31 meeting with Dr. Merle Gibson, medical director of the Inland Division of General Motors, and Dr. George Rappaport, head of Inland's chemical laboratory, about what happens to asbestos when brake linings wear. Gibson had questioned J-M's data at an asbestosis course at Mt. Sinai Hospital in June. Speil reports that after a morning reviewing J-M's research reports, Rappaport was convinced of "the validity of our data showing less than 1 per cent chrysotile content" in the wear dust, and suggested animal tests of its biological effect.

What it shows

The memo shows J-M's research staff working to persuade an automaker that brake wear released almost no asbestos fiber. Speil writes that Gibson "still believes asbestos to be the main cause of lung cancer" and objected to "any additional input to the atmosphere no matter how slight." He thought Gibson was "overpowered by the Selikoff mystic" (Dr. Irving Selikoff of Mt. Sinai), and that the others present "could probably be convinced that no problem exists by a few animal experiments" with calcined asbestos and brake lining wear material. The memo also notes that General Motors was considering funding work at Mt. Sinai, and that Speil would send Rappaport only those parts of J-M's reports that did not disclose proprietary information.