Canadian Johns-Manville Asbestos Fibre Division, Notes on the History of Asbestos Fibre (1967)

A 21-page paper "Prepared by the Staff of: Canadian Johns-Manville Company, Limited, Asbestos Fibre Division," dated Asbestos, Quebec, November 9, 1967. Six pages trace the uses of asbestos fiber (textiles, paper, insulation, roofing, packings and gaskets, asbestos-cement, brake linings and flooring) and the discovery of amosite, crocidolite and chrysotile deposits, including the 1879 start of the Danville company that became the Jeffrey Mine. Appendix A lists hundreds of uses of raw asbestos, yarn, cloth, felt, tape, paper, millboard, asbestos-cement and composition materials; Appendix B lists crocidolite and chrysotile mines around the world with their owners.

What it shows

The paper is a company history, with nothing on health. It gives the industry's own account of where asbestos went: the use lists run from pipe covering and boiler insulation to theatre curtains, ironing board covers, filter pads, gas mask filters and "Padding prison cells." A reader marked up the copy, underlining entries, adding "check 85% magnesia patent for accuracy of this" beside the insulation history and "Well, it's good for something" beside "Blackout or bombproof board." The cover is stamped by the Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health in Montreal.