Health Progress in an Asbestos Textile Works

Our plain-English summary of Health Progress in an Asbestos Textile Works (1961).

The study

• Published: Submitted for publication April 3, 1961; author is Manager, Charlotte Works, Thermoid Division, H. K. Porter Company, Charlotte, N.C. (journal not shown)
• Type of article: Journal article
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This 1961 article was not a research study. It was a descriptive account by the author, the manager of the Charlotte Works of the Thermoid Division, H. K. Porter Company, an asbestos textile plant in Charlotte, North Carolina. The author asked readers to imagine a small asbestos textile plant in 1936, with 178 to 200 workers and possibly half affected by asbestosis. The author stated that the company's records from that period are not available, and that what actually happened may have roughly compared with that picture. The author wrote that dust controls then were very meager. The article described a program the North Carolina State Board of Health set up in 1936: x-ray and medical examinations for workers in granite and mica mining, tombstone carving, aggregate plants and asbestos work, later including work cards. According to the author, a worker with asbestosis, even in the first stages, would be refused a work card. The article printed dust counts from January 1936 and July 1960 State Board records; in the copy available for this summary, several entries and decimal points are unclear. The author concluded that employees received medical attention above average.

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: Descriptive, non-research account of one plant's history and health practices, written by the plant's manager; no study methods or statistical analysis
• Who was studied: Employees of the Charlotte Works asbestos textile plant, Charlotte, North Carolina. The 1936 figure of 178 to 200 employees belongs to an imagined illustrative plant, not to documented company records.
• Exposure: Asbestos dust in asbestos textile manufacturing: carding, spinning, winding and weaving on looms. The fiber type is not named. Dust was measured in million particles per cubic foot.
• Main results:
  • In the imagined 1936 situation, possibly one-half of the work force was affected to some degree by asbestosis. The author said company records were unavailable and that actual events may have roughly compared with this picture.
  • The author described dust drawn out by fans being blown into the open air and carried to nearby homes in the earlier period.
  • In 1936 the North Carolina State Board of Health set up x-ray and medical examinations for workers in granite and mica mining, tombstone carving, aggregate plants and asbestos work. The procedure was later expanded to issuing work cards.
  • After the annual visit of the State's mobile x-ray unit, employees received a work card certifying their state of health. The author stated that a worker with asbestosis, even in the first stages, would be refused a work card.
  • The company also took its own 14 by 17 chest x-rays, which the company doctor discussed with employees. Dust collecting and dust counting by engineers were described as routine.
  • Two tables gave dust counts in million particles per cubic foot from North Carolina State Board of Health records, one from January 1936 and one from July 1960, at locations such as cards, spinning frames and dry and wet looms. Editorial note: in the copy supplied for this summary, a few values are legible, but several entries, their decimal points and their sampling locations are unclear, so any comparison of the numbers needs checking against a clear copy.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that, as a result of these examinations, the plant's employees received a degree of medical attention above average.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author stated that the company's records from the earlier period are not available, so the 1936 picture is an illustrative scenario rather than documented fact.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: H. K. Porter Company, Dust Control, Mica.

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