Robert M. Hehir to the Consumer Product Safety Commissioners on Asbestos in Consumer Products (1973)

A five-page staff memo of November 29, 1973, from Robert M. Hehir of the Bureau of Biomedical Science to the commissioners of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), on "Asbestos in Consumer Products." Hehir writes that it is "universally accepted" among experts that asbestos is hazardous to breathe, that industrial exposure leads to asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma, and that "tens of thousands" of exposed workers "will develop cancer in the next twenty to thirty years." He adds that the coming 2-fiber OSHA standard "is not universally considered as adequate to prevent asbestos-induced cancer."

What it shows

The memo was written to answer a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposal, prompted by a petition from Dr. Barry Castleman and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, to study asbestos in consumer products. Hehir comments on the FTC staff's recommendations and on three questions the FTC had put to the CPSC. He says the CPSC has primary jurisdiction over asbestos products sold to consumers, "including construction materials which can be purchased at building-supply stores," rates asbestos a "moderate to high, but not top" priority, and recommends a small task force rather than a joint study, since other agencies held most of the data. The memo refers to attachments ("Tab A" and "Tab D") that are not in this copy.