Denmark: Draft Measures for Working with Asbestos and Asbestos Products (1970)

This document is not a research study. It is an undated, unsigned draft of Danish rules for working with asbestos and asbestos products, labelled "Enclosure 1". It named three forms of asbestos: white chrysotile (said to be 95% of the asbestos used), a brownish-yellow magnesium iron silicate, and blue crocidolite. As background, it said that persons with asbestosis had a greater risk of bronchial cancer and that inhaling small amounts of crocidolite seemed able to produce mesothelioma years later. The draft called for regular cleaning, closed containers for asbestos waste (labelled when crocidolite was found), regular medical examination of exposed workers, and no dust-producing handling by persons under 18. Machines for carding, milling or mixing dry asbestos were to be enclosed with dust extraction as far as possible. Where they were not enclosed, they needed a hood with exhaust over the feeding opening. Both requirements could be modified if the asbestos was damped during processing. Respirators were required for feeding the machine and spraying during asbestos spraying in enclosed rooms, and for removing or repairing asbestos insulation. The document noted that research had found high dust levels during spraying in enclosed rooms despite damping and valve measures.

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.

From J-M's medical library

This copy comes from the Johns-Manville medical library. It was among the papers J-M kept in its medical library without an index entry.

We publish this piece for research and commentary: it shows what the medical literature in a leading asbestos company's own library said on the subject, and when. Our summary above is our own reading of it. The copyright stays with the publisher.