Asbestos and cancer: history and public policy

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos and cancer: history and public policy, by M.P. Weller (British Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1992).

The study

• Author: M.P. Weller
• Journal: British Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Published: 1992;49(1):70-2
• Type of article: Comment, Historical article, Letter
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 004144).

In plain English

This item is a letter to the editor, not a research study. The author responded to a 1991 article by Castleman on asbestos history and public policy, arguing that many problems with asbestos dust were known before industrialists responded. The letter listed early asbestosis case reports from 1907 onward. It stated that a 1938 US Public Health Service report by Dreessen and colleagues on asbestos textile factories urged elimination of hazardous exposure. It described the 5.0 million parts per cubic foot (mppcf) limit adopted by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists in 1947. It reported a 1965 critique by Shall saying the underlying study followed only 333 of 511 employees for five years and used as controls 76 office workers who had also been exposed. The letter quoted two industry figures in 1964 saying there was no safe level, noted the 1968 reduction to 2 mppcf, and cited the Borel court case. The author concluded that mounting evidence of the hazard had long been ignored and that industrialists seemed to have suppressed research findings.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Letter to the editor (correspondence) commenting on the history of asbestos knowledge and exposure standards; not original research
• Who was studied: No study population. The letter discusses published case reports, government reports, exposure standards, industry statements and court cases, mainly from the United States and Britain, from 1907 to the 1970s.
• Exposure: Asbestos dust in mining, processing and asbestos textile factories; airborne dust limits measured in million parts per cubic foot (mppcf)
• Main results:
  • The letter states that a 1938 US Public Health Service report by Dreessen et al documented the risk in asbestos textile factories and urged elimination of hazardous exposure.
  • The letter states that a limit of 5.0 mppcf for daily eight-hour exposure was adopted by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists in 1947 and reaffirmed in 1964. According to the letter, this limit was based on abdominal (intraperitoneal) injections into guinea pigs.
  • According to the letter, Shall's 1965 critique said the study was conducted for five years in 333 of the 511 employees investigated, more than half of whom were under 30.
  • According to the letter, the 76 comparison subjects were office workers in the same factories who had also been exposed to asbestos dust.
  • The letter notes that average dust counts could hide a wide range, with readings of up to 211 mppcf recorded.
  • The letter quotes a 1964 statement by CG Addlingley of British Belting and Asbestos Ltd that there was no safe limit.
  • The letter quotes John Wells of United States Rubber Co, who said that the safe level of asbestos dust was nil.
  • In 1968 the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists reduced its recommended exposure level to 2 mppcf.
  • In Borel v Fiberboard (1973), as described in the letter, the court concluded that the manufacturer's warnings were totally inadequate.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the mounting evidence of an industrial hazard had long been deliberately overlooked (a 'Nelsonian eye'). The author also stated that industrialists seemed to have suppressed research findings that went against their interests, as documented by Castleman.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis.

Related studies

• Asbestos and cancer: history and public policy — M.P. Weller (1993)
• Asbestos and cancer: history and public policy — W.K. Morgan (1992)
• Asbestos and cancer: history and public policy — J.C. Kelso (1992)
• Asbestos and cancer: history and public policy — B.I. Castleman (1991)
• Asbestos and cancer: history and public policy — M. Greenberg (1993)
• Sources in the history of occupational health: the Turner & Newall archive — G. Tweedale (2000)

Browse more research in British Journal of Industrial Medicine, or return to medical research.