The record
A November 1973 laboratory report to Whittaker, applying the FDA's September 1973 Federal Register method, found chrysotile and amphibole fibres in all six talc samples tested, with North Carolina talc containing 6,000 chrysotile fibres per milligram and 20,850 amphibole fibres per milligram, and noted perhaps an equal number of particles escaping detection below the 3:1 aspect ratio.
Claim scope
The only per-milligram fibre counts in this entire opinion set: 6,000 chrysotile/mg and 20,850 amphibole/mg in North Carolina talc, November 1973, plus an explicit contemporaneous statement that the counting rule itself was hiding roughly half the particles. This is the quantitative anchor of the measurement-politics narrative.
What this source does not establish
These are RAW TALC / source-ore figures for a supplier's samples, NOT finished-product concentrations, and not J&J product. The aspect-ratio caveat is the laboratory's own statement, not a judicial finding. The figures are per milligram of talc, not an airborne exposure measure.
Limitations
McNeal is the most valuable opinion in this set for timeline purposes because the court sets out the internal documents in an explicitly dated month-by-month chronology (headings 'a. August 1971' through 's. May 1977'). CRITICAL COUNTERWEIGHT: the court REVERSED the punitive damages award, holding the same evidence did not establish malice, oppression or fraud. Any use of McNeal must carry that disposition. The documents are verified as recounted; the culpability inference was rejected by this court. Report the numbers verbatim with the aspect-ratio caveat attached; never convert them to an exposure estimate.
Source
Case Citation — McNeal v. Whittaker, Clark & Daniels, No. B313472 (Cal. Ct. App. 2d Dist. Div. 8, July 5, 2022) (published; reporter cite UNVERIFIED)