C. L. Sheckler to A. Pocius on High Dust Counts at Sunbeam Equipment Corporation (1967)

A one-page memo of November 15, 1967, from C. L. Sheckler of Johns-Manville's Environmental Control Department at the Research and Engineering Center to A. Pocius at J-M headquarters, about Sunbeam Equipment Corporation of Meadville, Pennsylvania, a customer. Sunbeam's Donald Snyder had told H. M. Jackson by phone that "the dust exposures reached 90 MPPCF to 107 MPPCF when building up Superex insulation on heat treating furnaces they are manufacturing," while Pennsylvania Department of Health studies had found 7 to 21 MPPCF. Sheckler notes that the maximum allowable concentration for Superex "should not exceed 5 MPPCF" and that the Pennsylvania health department "is getting tougher and putting teeth into their requirements," naming Dr. J. Lieben, co-author of a paper on "Mesothelioma and Asbestos Exposure."

What it shows

Sheckler recommends "positive action" to help Sunbeam: if J-M is its major supplier of insulation, he, Pocius and the salesman should visit; if Sunbeam buys equally from other makers, the matter should go to the health committee of the National Insulation Manufacturers Association. The memo shows that by 1967 J-M knew a customer's workers were breathing dust from its Superex insulation at many times the accepted limit (see Million Particles per Cubic Foot (mppcf)), and that the company's first question was whose product was involved. The file had been running since December 1966.