Asbestos Bioeffects Research For Industry

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos Bioeffects Research For Industry, by H.M. Bowman, M.O. Colwell, L.J. Cralley, et al (1966).

The study

• Authors: H.M. Bowman, M.O. Colwell, L.J. Cralley, E.K. Davison, R.T.P. Detreville, F.H. Edwards, L.B. Grant, P. Gross, T.F. Hatch, W.G. Hazard, D. Minard, H.H. Schrenk, F.W. Smith, K.W. Smith, H.F. Smyth, G.W. Wright
• Published: Pittsburgh: Industrial Hygiene Foundation Medical Series Bulletin No. 11, Pp. 1-16 (1966)
• Type of article: Report
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library, J-M no. 003431. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This document was not a research study. It was the published minutes of a planning meeting held by the Industrial Hygiene Foundation of America on July 19, 1966. Sixteen people from companies, universities, the Foundation and the U.S. Public Health Service attended. Participants described asbestos research that was under way or planned. Dr. Cralley described a Public Health Service prospective study of workers in four kinds of industry: asbestos textiles, friction products, cement products and insulating materials. Dr. Kenneth W. Smith said the industry must be concerned with preserving its markets. Dr. Gross reported that the Foundation's laboratory had found lung cancers in rats exposed for 13 months to high concentrations of chrysotile dust. Dr. Gross also raised the possibility that trace metals, polycyclic hydrocarbons, or both, carried by asbestos might be solely responsible for its harmful effects. The Foundation proposed experiments in hamsters and rats. These would compare chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, fibrous glass and other fibrous materials. They would also test asbestos dust treated in attempts to remove its trace metals or hydrocarbons.

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: Minutes of an industry research-planning meeting, including a proposal for animal experiments; not a standalone research report
• Who was studied: Sixteen meeting attendees from companies (including Johns-Manville Corporation), the University of Pittsburgh, Mellon Institute, St. Luke's Hospital, the Industrial Hygiene Foundation and the U.S. Public Health Service, meeting in Pittsburgh on July 19, 1966. The proposed experiments would use hamsters and rats.
• Exposure: Proposed test materials were chrysotile (milled, and synthetic), amosite, crocidolite, fibrous glass with and without binders, and other fibrous materials such as mineral wool, brucite and filamentous zinc oxide. Some asbestos batches would be treated in attempts to remove trace metals or hydrocarbons.
• Main results:
  • Dr. Cralley described a U.S. Public Health Service prospective study in four asbestos industry categories: textiles, friction products, cement products and insulating materials.
  • Dr. Kenneth W. Smith, discussing the Asbestos Textile Institute, said the industry must be concerned with preserving its markets.
  • Dr. Gross reported a recent Foundation laboratory investigation, cited as to be published, in which lung cancers were found in rats exposed for 13 months to high concentrations of chrysotile dust.
  • Dr. Gross raised the possibility that trace metals, polycyclic hydrocarbons, or both, in asbestos might be solely responsible for its observed harmful effects.
  • The Foundation proposed injecting the test materials into the windpipes of hamsters, to be held six months, and of rats, to be held two years.
  • The proposal included treating chrysotile, amosite and crocidolite dust to remove trace metals and hydrocarbons before testing. The document noted that hydrocarbon extraction by solvents might not be complete.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Industrial Hygiene, Asbestos Textiles, Friction Products, Lung Cancer, Chrysotile, Amosite, Crocidolite.

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