Tilo Company to Canadian Johns-Manville Asking to Omit the Caution Label on Fiber Bags (1968)

A one-page letter of November 19, 1968, from William D. Brennan, purchasing agent of Tilo Company, Inc., of Stratford, Connecticut (a subsidiary of Reynolds Metals Company), to H. A. Boisclair of Canadian Johns-Manville Asbestos, Ltd., in New York. Tilo had been told in October that each bag of chrysotile fiber would carry the label: "This bag contains chrysotile asbestos fibre. Persons exposed to this material should use adequate protective devices as inhalation of this material over long periods may be harmful." Citing its own "awareness of the inherent hazards" and the precautions it already took, Tilo called the wording "unnecessary and unduly alarming to our employees" and asked J-M to omit it from Tilo's shipments.

What it shows

The letter gives the exact wording of the caution label Canadian Johns-Manville began putting on its fiber bags in late 1968, and shows that some customers did not want their workers to see it. A handwritten note at the bottom passes the letter to N. W. Hendry for comment and remarks that Tilo's fiber was shipped in poly bags. Other customers took the label differently (Hooker Chemical's request for advice, December 1968), and objections from British customers led J-M to keep the label off overseas shipments (Policy Committee minutes, December 1968).

In Johns-Manville's chronology

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

W.D. Brennan (Tilo Company, CT) writes to CJM, 11/19/68, in response to Hendry's letter of 10/1/68 indicating that J-M is going to label its bags of raw fiber. Brennan states that because his company is already aware of the hazards of manufacturing "asbestos-bearing" products and preventative measures needed to be taken when handling it, "we feel that the wording you now propose is unnecessary and unduly alarming to our employees. Accordingly, we are requesting you omit this printing from the packages in which you ship our requirements."