Congress considers asbestos indemnity bill

Our plain-English summary of Congress considers asbestos indemnity bill, by R.J. Smith (Science, 1979).

The study

• Author: R.J. Smith
• Journal: Science
• Published: 1979;204(4394):712
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This is a short news item in the 'Briefing' section of Science. It is not a research study and contains no medical data. The author reported on two asbestos bills before the U.S. Congress in 1979. The first, drafted by the Johns-Manville Corporation and introduced by Representative Millicent Fenwick, would require the federal government to pay the product liability claims of any U.S. citizen exposed to asbestos before December 1980. The article said lawsuits against Johns-Manville were estimated at $1.5 to $1.7 billion. It also said the federal government had agreed to pay $5.7 million as its share of a $20 million suit by Texas insulation plant workers against Pittsburgh Corning. The second bill would have the federal government pay the interest on school loans for removing asbestos, up to a total cost of $100 million. A House committee rejected, 18 to 11, a proposal to assess the industry up to $30 million. Several congressmen said the industry could escape responsibility if the bills were enacted.

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: news briefing (journalism, not a research study)
• Who was studied: Not a study population. The item concerned two asbestos bills pending before the U.S. Congress in 1979.
• Exposure: Asbestos dust, described as a known carcinogen, in the context of product liability claims, workmen's compensation and removal of asbestos from schools
• Main results:
  • The first bill, drafted by Johns-Manville, would require the federal government to pay the product liability claims of any U.S. citizen exposed to asbestos before December 1980.
  • Lawsuits against Johns-Manville from workers exposed to asbestos dust were estimated to total between $1.5 and $1.7 billion.
  • The first bill would also require the asbestos and tobacco industries to set up a fund for future claims. The article said the number of claimants could be several million.
  • The federal government had agreed to pay $5.7 million as its share of liability in a $20 million suit against Pittsburgh Corning by workers in a Texas insulation plant.
  • According to meeting minutes cited in the article, in 1978 the international Asbestos Information Association declined to recommend a warning label on asbestos going to some countries.
  • For the second bill, on federal payment of interest on school asbestos-removal loans up to a total cost of $100 million, the House Education and Labor Committee rejected by 18 to 11 a proposal to assess the industry up to $30 million.
• The authors' conclusion: The item draws no scientific conclusion. It reported congressional sources as saying the second (schools) bill had an excellent chance of passage.

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