John H. Marsh to T. A. Dougherty and Others on an Industry-Wide Asbestos-Health Position (1978)

A one-page memo of June 2, 1978, from John H. Marsh, director of environmental affairs at Raybestos-Manhattan, to T. A. Dougherty, C. G. Gabrielson, D. Poutiatine, H. B. Rhodes, K. Schwarz and E. W. Zacharias, sending a revised U.S. draft of the Asbestos International Association's statement on asbestos and health. Mr. van der Rest had proposed at the April meetings a standard position agreed to by all members, so that "industry worldwide speaks with a single voice, if possible, when addressing the news media or other interested parties." Marsh and Dr. Hilton Lewinsohn had revised his draft.

What it shows

The draft of June 1, 1978, had two parts: nine "most important points" and a more detailed statement. It said "Asbestos workers do not seem to be more susceptible to lung cancer than other people unless they smoke," that there was "by no means general agreement" about the role of crocidolite and amosite in mesothelioma, that most members using crocidolite thought it could still be used with precautions, and that "Asbestos in the ambient air does not involve any documented health risks to the community at large." A second copy of the nine points carries handwritten edits striking the item on substitutes. A later round of this draft is Rhodes' July 1978 version with Lewinsohn's comments.

In Johns-Manville's index

Johns-Manville's legal department indexed the Motley 1,000 in 1984. Its index describes this document as follows:

J.H. Marsh memo to T.A. Dougherty, et al., 6/2/78, re industry's position on the asbestos-health issue. Marsh states that at the April meetings of the AIA Executive Committee and the Governing Council, Van der Rest suggested that it would be useful to have a standard industry position on asbestos-health. Van der Rest distributed a draft of a position paper and asked all members to review and make recommendations. Marsh states that Dr. Lewinsohn and he have reviewed the draft and have prepared a revised version which is enclosed.

Related documents

• Hilton C. Lewinsohn and Harrison B. Rhodes on Medical Surveillance in the AIA Industry Statement (1978)

About this copy

This is document 683 of the Motley 1,000, from the set the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust's records facility certified as true copies, pages CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002386 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-002394.