What Did Industry Know about the Dangers of Asbestos: October 1934, 89 Years Ago.

When I used to represent clients in asbestos lawsuits (as many of you know that means having represented defendants sued in those cases), I often wondered about the historical knowledge of the leading companies back in those olden days. I don’t mean smaller companies or those without any known exposures at the time, but companies which should have known about the health-related issues and could have reacted better than they did for the benefit of their employees. Being back in school has provided me time to research this type of issue.

Clearly, by October 1934, asbestos was known by the National Safety Council and its members to be extremely dangerous. How do we know? The answer to that question is as easy as reading page 23 of the Twenty-Third Annual Safety Congress meeting of the National Safety Council Incorporated which took place in Cleveland, Ohio from October 1 to October 5, 1934. I have attached a PDF version of many of the pages at https://theasbestosblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/1934-NSC-Asbestos-Hazard.pdf. The following two pages, however, tell the story. Specifically,

“The only other type of dust which is generally recognized as a cause of severe pulmonary injury is asbestos, a silicate of magnesium. The substance is fiberous in character and is more readily soluble than quartz.”

“Generally recognized.” “Cause of severe pulmonary injury.” You get the message. The passage continues by discussing the mechanism of injury as

“Contraction of the new connective tissue narrows or closes the tube and thereby shuts off the ingress of air to the more peripheral air spaces. These spaces then collapse…”

I note that this the discussion on dust in the industry was a Friday afternoon session on October 5, 1934 and, although we have a lot of information on the officers and executive committee back then for the National Safety Council (see page 4 of the document which I have linked to this blog), we don’t know the attendees of the meeting in general or this presentation in particular. See also the names on the linked document for pages 6 and 8 as my copy is missing pages 5 and 7. This was not a marginal organization with limited reach but, rather, a group that was capable of wide distribution and that took seriously the education of its membership.

Clearly by 1934, asbestos was known to be a problem in the workplace. Did industry take it seriously? I posit that some did but many, too many, did not. I will leave it to each of my readers, after seeing all of the blogs and published material, to make up their own mind.

Let me know what you think either in the comments or emailing me at TheAsbestosBlog@gmail.com. Thanks. Marty.