18 Facts About Irving Selikoff

Irving J Selikoff was a medical researcher who in the 1960s established a link between the inhalation of asbestos particles and lung-related ailments.

Irving Selikoff's work is largely responsible for the regulation of asbestos today.

Irving J Selikoff was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn in 1915.

Irving Selikoff graduated from Columbia University in 1935 and attended Royal Colleges Scotland for his medical degree, graduating in 1941.

Irving Selikoff later interned in Newark, New Jersey, and joined the Mount Sinai Medical Center as an assistant in anatomy and physiology.

Irving Selikoff found that workers exposed to asbestos often had scarred lung tissue 30 years after exposure.

Irving Selikoff's research is credited with having pressured the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to limit workplace exposure to asbestos.

Irving Selikoff became aware of hundreds of articles previously published on this issue.

Irving Selikoff engaged in additional studies of groups of asbestos workers, in particular shipyard workers including those at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard.

Irving Selikoff has received awards from the American Public Health Association, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the American Cancer Society.

Irving Selikoff was awarded the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research in 1955.

Irving Selikoff wrote more than 350 scientific articles and two books, edited 11 books and founded two journals.

Irving Selikoff was the former head of the American Thoracic Society, the Collegium Ramazzini and New York Academy of Medicine.

Irving Selikoff was a consultant to the World Health Organization, the National Cancer Institute and other agencies, businesses and unions.

In efforts to protect the industry, criticisms were made of Irving Selikoff exaggerating the risks of asbestos and even committing medical fraud.

In 1966 Irving Selikoff founded and became the director of the Environmental and Occupational Health Division of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, the nation's first hospital division dedicated to the field.

Irving Selikoff retired as division director at Mount Sinai in 1985 but remained active in research.

Irving Selikoff continued to research the effects of asbestos up to the age of 75.