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Anything but beryllium: The beryllium industry's corruption of safety information
Author(s) -
Egilman David,
Bagley Sarah,
Connolly Shan
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.10104
Subject(s) - commission , medicine , beryllium , compensation (psychology) , occupational medicine , workers' compensation , occupational safety and health , public relations , law , political science , pathology , social psychology , psychology , physics , nuclear physics
To the Editor: Beryllium manufacturers have long recognized the relationship between marketing, compensation claims and fear of Be toxicity. In response, they sponsored researchers who manipulated and influenced medical literature to minimize the consequences of Be exposure to workers and members of the community. This dates back to the 1940s, when the Atomic Energy Council(AEC)Advisory Board on Medicine and Biology established the following policy: "If specific locations or activities of the Atomic Energy Commission and/or its contractors are closely associated with statements and information which would invite or tend to encourage claims against the Atomic Energy Commission or its contractors, such portions of articles to be published should be reworded or deleted" [AEC memo, 1947].