R. Belleau and E. A. Gaensler, Mesothelioma and Asbestosis (1968)

A thirteen-page case report from the Thoracic Services of Boston University, published in the journal Respiration in 1968. Dr. R. Belleau and Dr. E. A. Gaensler describe a 54-year-old man who had worked for sixteen years as an asbestos sheet stacker in a large factory, where "It was understood that only chrysotile asbestos was used." First seen in 1959 with asbestosis only, he returned seven years later and died within months of a diffuse pleural mesothelioma. The authors note that asbestos "is harmful even in low concentrations and with relatively brief exposure."

What it shows

The early reports linking mesothelioma to asbestos came from South Africa's crocidolite (blue asbestos) fields; this case involved a man in an American factory using chrysotile. The authors review the literature: Dr. Irving Selikoff's group had attributed 17 of 325 deaths among insulation workers to mesothelioma, "a rate of 1:20 compared to 1:10000" in the general population; the tumor could occur without asbestosis and took 20 to 40 years to develop; and "neighbourhood cases" had been found among London housewives who had only brushed their husbands' clothes. They conclude that "prevention has more to offer than therapy." See also Chrysotile.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

Johns-Manville's own chronology of what the company knew describes this document as follows:

Belleau article, links U.S. fibers to mesothelioma.

Editor's note: J-M's description says the article links U.S. fibers to mesothelioma. The article says only that it "was understood that only chrysotile asbestos was used" at the man's factory and does not say where the fiber came from.