Beyond the Factory Gates: Asbestos and Health in Twentieth Century America
Beyond the Factory Gates examines the issue of asbestos and health in the USA between the early 1900's to the mid-1970s. Areas covered include the emergence of medical concern about the three fatal diseases related to asbestos (asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma); the actions of the US Navy (the main consumer of asbestos-based insulation products); the response of the federal government before and after enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970; and the roles of...
Search in google:
"Beyond the Factory Gates examines the issue of asbestos and health in the USA between the early 1900s to the mid-1970s. Areas covered include the emergence of medical concern about the three fatal diseases related to asbestos (asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma); the actions of the US Navy (the main consumer of asbestos-based insulation products); the response of the Federal Government before and after enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970; and the roles of organized labour and the asbestos industry." The book provides an important insight into occupational health and its regulation in twentieth century America, and is original in several ways. First, there is no satisfactory history of asbestos, health and medicine in the USA - a major gap in the literature. Second, no previous publication has examined the asbestos issue 'beyond the factory gates' in a non-manufacturing context and explored the complex interactions between organized labour, the US Government, business corporations and the US Navy. Finally, beyond the factory gates avoids the one-sided, anti-business interpretations that predominate in much of the existing literature. It accepts that the history of asbestos is in many ways a human tragedy, but it rejects simplistic, universalized arguments that this has been a tragedy with a cast only of villains, dupes and victims.
Ch. 1Emergent knowledge1Ch. 2Minimum requirements13Ch. 3Inspecting the shipyards25Ch. 4Fleischer, Viles, Gade and drinker38Ch. 5Cursory measures?50Ch. 6The 1950s and beyond57Ch. 7Asbestos and cancer64Ch. 8Irving J. Selikoff and the international association76Ch. 9New York and beyond90Ch. 10Proscription or precautions?100Ch. 11OSHA and the asbestos standard117Ch. 12All at sea?134Ch. 13Conclusion157
