R. E. Cryor of Union Asbestos & Rubber to C. Mosier on Gardner's Asbestos Dust Experiments (1938)

A two-page Union Asbestos & Rubber Company memo of December 19, 1938, from R. E. Cryor to C. Mosier, summing up the asbestos dust experiments Dr. Leroy Gardner was running at Saranac Lake, with Vandiver Brown's cover letter of December 14 and Gardner's four-page progress report of December 9, 1938. Cryor wrote that the results "seem to point definitely to mechanical action as being the cause of fibrosis," that finer particles caused less irritation than coarser ones, and that "crysotile fiber may be more harmful than other varieties of asbestos that have been tested including Amosite." Gardner's report said animals breathing very finely ground fiber for 20 months showed no gross fibrosis, unlike an earlier experiment in which coarser dust produced fibrosis in 15 months.

What it shows

Cryor saw the research in practical terms: if it could be shown "that only a certain range of particle size and only definite concentrations of dust are harmful, our problem will have been simplified to a considerable extent." He also passed on that most of the results suggested asbestos dust "is probably less likely to produce fibrosis of the lungs than other forms of silica or silicate dust." The memo shows what a sponsoring company took from the Saranac Laboratory work two years into the industry's grant.

In Johns-Manville's index

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

R.E. Cryor (Union Asbestos & Rubber Co.) memo to C. Mosier, 12/19/38, enclosing V. Brown letter to L.J. Silverman, 12/14/38, and Dr. Gardner's progress report on his animal experiments, 12/9/38. Cryor informs Mosier that the objectives of Dr. Gardner's experiments, which he began in March of 1937, are the following: 1) to observe by X-ray examination any tendency towards development of fibrosis in the lungs of experimental animals subjected to high concentrations of asbestos dust over prolonged time intervals; 2) to determine if possible whether the irritation that develops from asbestos dust in the lung tissues is a result of chemical affects, or mechanical action. Cryor states that to date the results seem to point definitely to mechanical action as being the cause of fibrosis. Dr. Gardner has found, contrary to what was expected, that the finer particles cause less irritation than the coarser particles. Most of the experimental results seem to indicate that asbestos dust is probably less likely to produce fibrosis of the lungs "than other forms of silica or silica dust." There is some evidence to show that chrysotile fiber may be more harmful than other varieties of asbestos that have been tested including amosite. Cryor concludes by stating that the continuation of Dr. Gardner's work will help establish "a background of information that will be of considerable assistance in designing equipment and protective devices for eliminating industrial hazard. If it can be established that only a certain range of particle size and only definite concentrations of dust are harmful, our problem will have been simplified to a considerable extent." V. Brown letter to L.J. Silverman, 12/14/38, entitled "Dr. Gardner Asbestos Dust Experiments." Brown encloses a copy of Dr. Gardner's "further progress report" on his animal experiments, dated 12/9/38. Dr. Gardner's "Progress Report on Asbestos Experiments," 12/9/38. Dr. Gardner tentatively concludes that the irritation caused by asbestos dust is mechanical rather than chemical and that long fiber produces fibrosis rather than short fiber. He also states that it appears that the injury caused by inhaling asbestos is not progressive.

Related documents

• Leroy Gardner, Progress Report on Asbestos Experiments (1938)
• L. L. Cohen of Union Asbestos & Rubber to C. Mosier Enclosing Gardner's First Progress Report (1937)

About this copy

This is document 810 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-004380 to CRMC-Motley1000-Subj-004386.