Document 3VZmnDpoJvjMXE1LEzZk75eD

U.s. PROPOSES CUT IN ASBESTOS LIMIT: Agency's Suggestion Would Make ... By BEN A. FRAN KLIN Special U) H ie New York Times New York Timex (1925-Ciirrenijile); Apr 10, 1084; ProQuest Historical Newspapers; The New York Times (1851-2010) p e - A Mi...................... ........ (J.S. PROPOSES CUT IN ASBESTOS LIMIT Agency's Suggestion Would Make the Workplace Safer for 375,000 in Industry By BEN A. FRANKLIN Special loTr#NewYorkTimes WASHINGTON, April 9 -- The Rea gan A dm inistration today proposed a reduction in the am ount of asbestos perm itted in w orkplaces toonesquarter of the current limit. The proposal by the Labor Depart m ent "s O ccupational S afety an d H ealth A dm inistration, which is to be pub lished T uesday In the F ed eral R egis workers.ter, w ould affect 375,000 industrial It would cut the perm issible expo sure level from 2 fibers of asbestos for each cubic centim eter of workplace air, which has been the Federal stand a rd s in c e 3976, to eith er 0,5 o r 0,2 fibers for a cubic centim eter. T he final choice between the two levels, am ong other options of a highly technical nature, are to be m ade later this y e a r a fte r a 60-day period in which the safety agency will receive w ritten co m m en ts and hold a public b ea rin g on all aspects of the revised asbestos regu lations. The standards and Deaths A fter a working lifetim e of exposure, the safety agency said, the current s ta n d a rd would result in fW m o re can c e r d ea th s p e r l t0Q0 w o rk ers than would o c c u r am ong a 1,000 people not exposed to asbestos. The standard of 0,5 fibers p er cubic cen tim eter would re su lt in 17 additional c a n ce r d e a th s for 1,000 w orkers, the ag ency s a id , and there would be 7 more cancer deaths for IjXfO w orkers a t th e level of 0.2 fibers p er cubic centim eter. The formal publication of the asbes tos proposal comes a week alter-th e resignation of Thome G, Auchter as the A dm inistrator of the agency. Mr, Auchter was a Reagan Adm inistration appointee who was frequently accused by labor unions of " gutting" occupa tional health and safety enforcement, L ast N ovem ber Mr. A uchter tried to put into effect the 0.5-fiber standard as an em ergency regulation, but the as bestos industry sued im m ediately to block it. The em ergency regulation was overturned on March 7 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, The court questioned the Govern m ent's data subm itted to back up its claim . Asked today for his view of the safety agency's new proposal for a perm anent sta n d a rd a s law a s 0,2 fib ers a cubic centim eter, B, J . Pigg, the head of the Asbestos Inform ation Association, the industry group which sued to block the em ergency rule, said: " We have no plans for further litigation/' '`Im possible to Meet* But at the safety agency's regulatory hea rin g set for Ju n e 12 he s aid th e a s sociation would oppose a standard of 0,2 fib e rs a s " Im possible to m e e t." " The industry will oppose putting its people in respirators eight hours a d a y /1 Mr. Pigg said. R espirators, or face m asks contain ing a ir filters th at a re hot and cum ber some and are never popular with work ers, are am ong the methods available to lim it the inhalation of asbestos fibers. O ther methods include forced ventilation and limiting the tim e spent 1 in the w ork place. M ore than a score of unions belong- j ing to the American Federation of j Labor and Congress of Industrial Or- ! ganizalions h ave pressed OSHA to ! low er th e asbestos sta n d a rd to 0.1 fibers a cubic centim eter, Kevin FoleyT assistant director for health and safety of the federation's building trad e s de p a rtm e n t, said, " We would be v ery happy w ith the level of 0,2 fibers, but we are still saying we want fkl," Ke cited studies by the Federal safety agency th at showed th at evert at the 0, 1-fib e r exposure level th e re would be th re e excess c a n ce r d ea th s for 1,900 w orkers, R iw In P re s s u re for Revision Pressures to revise the asbestos ex posure standard began to rise in the 1970's w hen thousands of World W ar IJ shipyard workers or their survivors successfully brought suits against Johns-MansviUe Inc., a m ajor asbestos supplier, for Jong-delayed occupational illnesses and cancer deaths. The parent concern, the M anvillc Corporation* went into bankruptcy to avoid the full brunt of hundreds ol millions of dollars in dam age claim s. F ederal studies of the asbestos work force* how ever, have found th a t thou sands of other groups of workers were even m ore highly exposed, According to the safety agency, those m ost at risk, th at is exposed to a s m any a s 20 fibers of asbestos a cubic centim eter of air, a re 13*000 building dem olition and drywail rem oval workers. Ju ry forem an reading a verdict a t Teen Court* At ro a r 1a Ju d g e Spencer, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.