title: "Unleashed on an Unsuspecting World": The Asbestos Information Association and Its Role in Perpetuating a National Epidemic.
abstract: Examining previously underused corporate documents, we revisit the story of the Asbestos Information Association/North America, an industry trade group that sought in the early 1970s to counteract the growing public attention to, and government regulation of, asbestos as a serious threat to workers and consumers. From the mid-1960s through the early 1970s, according to its own spokesperson, asbestos was exposed as "probably the most hazardous industrial material ever unleashed on an unsuspecting world." In retrospect, thousands of lives may have been saved if the Asbestos Information Association had publicly acknowledged this earlier.
authors.affiliation: Gerald Markowitz is with the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, John Jay College, New York, NY; the PhD Programs in History and Public Health, Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York; and the Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. David Rosner is with the Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Department of History, and Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health, Columbia University.
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Markowitz
authors.affiliation: Gerald Markowitz is with the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, John Jay College, New York, NY; the PhD Programs in History and Public Health, Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York; and the Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. David Rosner is with the Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Department of History, and Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health, Columbia University.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rosner
mesh_terms: D001194:Asbestos / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D009656:North America; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D016272:Occupational Health; D011639:Public Opinion; D012952:Societies / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States; D014489:United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration
chemical_list: D001194:Asbestos