Document type: Report

@) REASON FOR NOMINATION: % (SPECIFICALLY describe why your nominee(s) deserve the award you a are recommending.) a | BELIEVE THIS PERSON (OR TEAM) SHOULD BE CONSIDERED FOR THE AWARD BECAUSE: INTRODUCTION Fibrous glass has been perceived by some as potentially of toxicological significance. Product prototypes of XDU utilize a special form of fibrous glass in their manufacture. To assure that no significant amount of fibrous glass can be transferred to the XDU mainstream smoke, scientists in the Toxicology Division and the Regulatory and Scientific Affairs Division established a program to measure mainstream fibrous glass transfer. The implementation of this program by Mr. Jerry Avalos, Mr. Keith Shreve and Mr. Guy Spence Is the basis for their consideration as recipients of the "China Breaker Award”: THE PROGRAM The program to measure the fiber transfer in mainstream XDU smoke requires many steps. The principal steps include: 1) identifying and preparing standards of fibrous glass to be used in assessing the efficiency of transfer in each phase of the smoke collection effort, 2) identifying and implementing an appropriate smoke collection system compatible with the endpoints to be measured and 3) identifying and utilizing a quantitative technique for counting the fibers that may be transferred in the smoke. Each of these principal steps is comprised of many smaller, but significant efforts as well. At the time of program initiation, a timeline was agreed upon that was based on management's best scientific understanding of the problem and the need for a rapid response. Jerry, Keith and Guy understood that they would be under significant pressure to meet the goals of the program from day-one, and were, of course, willing to give their best efforts. Everything was outlined and work could proceed as planned. This is when the story becomes interesting. WHY A "CHINA BREAKER AWARD" Jerry, Keith and Guy knew from conversation with management that the earlier the program could be completed the better for the Company in a number of areas. Rather than just conduct the study as outlined, they discussed the program among themselves and identified several alternative approaches that just might be faster, less expensive, and less labor-intensive. They chose an alternative approach and went to work to demonstrate its potential. Rather than employing scanning electron microscopy to visualize and count the fibers that may be collected in the fiber transfer studies, they chose to use polarized light microscopy with an interface to a video tape recorder and television monitor. This approach was validated by the team and proved to be very advantageous. The advantages include: 1) The elimination of sample preparation for scanning electron microscopy, an effort that required about an hour per sample; 2) A reduction of time for sample quantitation from four hours to 20 minutes per sample; 3) The elimination of a major dependency on sophisticated instrumentation (SEM) with a high demand for utilization on many high priority company programs; 4) Eliminated subsequent project interruptions for those other programs within the Company that depend on the availability of scanning electron microscopy; 5) A reduction in labor necessary to provide the data of interest; 6) A permanent record could be developed to demonstrate the quantification process for each sample on video tape. 0998S cLeIs