Memorandum on the Industrial Diseases of Silicosis and Asbestosis (1932)

This 1932 British Home Office memorandum, not a research study, explained how silicosis and asbestosis arise, how to prevent them, and how workers could claim compensation. It listed silicosis compensation cases from the previous three years: 80 cases, including 30 deaths, in ganister mines and silica brick works; 179, including 25 deaths, in getting and manipulating sandstone at quarries or associated premises; 322 in pottery, whose death count this text renders as "R7" and cannot be confirmed; 81, including 32 deaths, in metal industries; and 91, including 20 deaths, in coal mines. A short note described asbestosis as lung fibrosis caused by breathing asbestos dust, usually over several years. It named jobs such as crushing and opening crude asbestos, making asbestos textiles and insulation, and dry sawing or grinding brake and clutch linings. It said the fibrosis spreads throughout the lungs and that the first prominent symptom is usually shortness of breath. It said tuberculosis apparently develops less often than in silicosis. It named dust control as the chief means of prevention. It does not name specific asbestos fiber types.

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From J-M's medical library

This copy comes from the Johns-Manville medical library. J-M listed it in its medical library index as no. 003053.