The Case for Criminal Sanctions in Preventing Occupational Diseases. Exhibit A: Asbestos

Our plain-English summary of The Case for Criminal Sanctions in Preventing Occupational Diseases. Exhibit A: Asbestos, by B.I. Castleman (1980).

The study

• Author: B.I. Castleman
• Published: Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials Report, Volume 1 No1. September-October 1980
• Type of article: Trade 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 article was not a scientific study. It was the author's statement of November 15, 1979, to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime on H.R. 7040, rewritten as an essay. It argued for criminal penalties against business managers who conceal dangers from workers and customers. Using company letters, meeting notes, unpublished reports and testimony, the author described what the asbestos industry knew about asbestosis and lung cancer from the 1930s onward. One example was a 1930 examination of 195 Quebec miners, 42 of whom had asbestosis, which the author said was concealed. Another was an industry survey completed in 1931 and published in 1935, which found asbestosis in fifty-three percent of factory workers examined. The author said the published report was changed at the request of a Johns-Manville attorney. The author also cited a 1952 interim report of excess lung cancer in mice exposed to asbestos dust, and a 1949 company report saying workers with X-ray signs of asbestosis had not been told. The author concluded that the asbestos problem was man-made and that it supports criminal sanctions.

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: Advocacy essay rewritten from congressional testimony. It is a historical account based on industry documents, correspondence and testimony. It is not a research study.
• Who was studied: No study population. The article describes the U.S. and Canadian asbestos industry and its workers from 1898 to the 1970s. Companies named include Johns-Manville, Raybestos-Manhattan, Owens-Illinois, Owens-Corning, Armstrong Cork, Philip Carey and Quebec mining companies.
• Exposure: Asbestos dust in mining, textile and factory work, and in asbestos insulation products (including Kaylo). The article does not name specific fiber types.
• Main results:
  • The author reported that unpublished 1930 data from Pedley and Lanza, found in a 1944 Metropolitan Life report, showed 42 cases of asbestosis among 195 miners examined in Quebec. Only 76 of these miners had more than 10 years in the industry.
  • The author reported that an industry-arranged survey by Lanza and coworkers was completed in 1931 and published in 1935. It found asbestosis in fifty-three percent of the asbestos factory workers examined. According to the author, the published report included changes requested by a Johns-Manville attorney.
  • The author cited Merewether's statistic that, of 235 people dying in the U.K. with asbestosis, 31 (13.2%) also had cancer of the lung and pleura. This compared with a 1.32% lung cancer rate with silicosis and 1.0% in the general population.
  • The author reported a 1952 interim confidential report to the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association. It described an excess of pulmonary cancer in mice exposed to asbestos dust for 14 months.
  • The author quoted a 1949 report by Dr. Kenneth Smith on an industrial hygiene survey of 708 mine and mill workers at Asbestos, Quebec. It said seven workers would definitely be entitled to disability compensation and another 52 were possible claim cases. It also said the men had not been told of their asbestosis diagnosis.
  • The author reported that Paul Cartier published that 6 of 40 autopsied miners with asbestosis had had lung cancer.
  • The author wrote that Johns-Manville did not put caution labels on sacks of asbestos until 1968.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the asbestos problem was man-made and that every major firm in the industry was involved in concealing medical facts. The author also concluded that the asbestos example illustrates the case for criminal sanctions against executives who conceal mortal dangers.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author noted that few compensation records from before 1960 have been preserved.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Occupational Disease, Lung Cancer, Johns-Manville.

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