P. F. Coggins to R. H. North on a Small Caution Label for Marine Marinite (1968)

A two-page memo of October 17, 1968, headed "Health Hazard Warning, Marinite (Marine)," from P. F. Coggins at Johns-Manville's division headquarters to R. H. North at Manville. Industrial Marinite could carry the proposed label of about 40 words on the face of each panel, Coggins writes, but marine panels were finished on both faces, so he asks for "a very simple, short 'Caution'" on a small label "for use on the edges only of Marinite sheets." His suggested wording: "CAUTION: Contains asbestos fiber which may or may not be hazardous to your health when inhaled."

What it shows

Coggins calls the full label "far in excess of its actual purpose in this particular case" and would rather put that information in product literature. "I am basically thinking of warning the public with the smallest possible label," he writes. He had talked with the largest user of Marinite in the marine industry, which did not like the idea of a label "at all" but realized "such a notification was bound to come," and which agreed the edge was the place for it: "make it as small as possible." Marinite labeling had been debated inside J-M for a decade (see the 1958 memos on a Marinite caution label), and Sheckler's May 1968 memo had already set out an asbestos label for it.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

In a memorandum to R.H. North, 10/17/68, P.F. Coggins discusses a "Caution" to be used on the edges of Marinite sheets. Coggins suggests the following:
CAUTION: Contains asbestos fiber which may or may not be hazardous to your health when inhaled.

Coggins further states: "I am basically thinking of warning the public with the smallest possible label, to be affixed to the edge of the sheets being used by the industry." Coggins has discussed the label and the position of the label with the "largest users" of Marinite. The users agree with the location of the label but say "make it as small as possible".

Related documents

• Johns-Manville Memos on a Caution Label for Marinite (1958)
• Johns-Manville Correspondence on Describing Marinite to the American Medical Association (1948)
• H. M. Jackson to William J. Reeves of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company on Marinite (1960)
• H. M. Jackson to the Los Angeles Division of Occupational Health on Marinite, Colorlith, Asbestocite and Transite (1960)
• Dr. Kenneth W. Smith to D. E. Van Farowe of the Michigan Department of Health on Marinite (1959)
• J-M Industrial Insulations to the National Sanitation Foundation Testing Laboratory on Marinite 36 (1957)