Document 4Qr7Ov1wb0ME1wBOa6GYGRYbp

- L-rrzrrr-?":" " p \ scz y _ j( j SS-.sSgS ! =3 3 I'Sls's -usS: H-as?: -o-3J >1--.-V-S IC. 3o 3 S ? 2L ? o-w o ^ - ,c w , a *1 - . 3- I' S *" - t* tt A ` 2 TJ ' Sv ~^J.2PU. ttS 4 w ^ Q. ^^."2 i5 o.s =23"c3 uO r33* -eS>-;*C3rt *C2e-n _* M-- .1*! ,-n ,m fa. 5 **u **. S 2 i*2 tfs-jfli ii 2 ^ B * _SX2y.|C 23 '_ ^SS. .g i S " ^ G R E E N W IC H T IM E , F R ID A Y , N O V E M B E R 22, 1074 5 c 3 c u#^ 5s -t-'5ci|| "S S.*3|ssS*|ia. _* <slT>i5t:'33 8| a|z3 iJ-E It'S J ^ -52-SsLaC-MsJ! *5P:u|si UCC 010036 UC-4202 CHARLESTON. W. VA. S3.SCO (SI IS7.COJ NOV l 9 1974 f :u.'?sd ev' (-aACCNSj SPRAY-QN ASBESTOS 5 03 Building Material Said Cancer. " i : ^ t-.-. -' ' T?.yA3 ^r<g - ^*At the Yale Artini Arch* Knight New*Wire - tectnre BuMnf.-.DnrRobert -j MFW WAVKl^eine -A,^SaWJ*r f0Und Ul** aCttvitfe* NEW AVEN^- ? - within the building came an. fall-out.often ztrery Uoo of ihousan& of UiUdi^p a Baaankwf levels^ which couM :ftm lA ~ffeonardlt> Jtndents and ` has been foun&tebe a cancer risk by a team <dresearcher* *mainrtenance employee. .-./"Sawyer ays be is not con at Yale University. - As a result, they have or cerned with abestosis, or "white long," a disease that dered that one of the most in frequently afflicts those who fluential buildings of the 1960s, the Yale Art and Archi tecture Building be complete ly stripped of a spray-on ma terial containing asbestos wort in asbestos plants. Rath er, the danger is of mesutheiions, a malignant cancer of the lung and abdominal cavi fibers which had been used on the buiidingVeeilta*. This follows an earlier inst ty- . . TMs generally strikes 10 or more yean after first expo sure to the asbestos, and no ance at the University of Cali fornia. where, although condi tions were not measured at levels high enough to be clas sified under federal regula tions as hazardous, ceilings were removed from 800 dor "safe" leverof exposure to as bestos bas yet been deter mined. Some activities at the Yale building, such as dusting li brary books, changing light fixtures and slamming doors mitory rooms. Spray-on materiais contain ing asbestos have not been used in most other major ci ties since 1971 because re search then showed that it presented a severe health haz ard during construction, espe cially to workmen. It had been assumed until now, however, that there was no hazard to persons who worked or lived in the completed building. Prior to 1971, the material were found to have triggered concentrations of asbestos in the air in excess of amounts allowed by new federal regu lations that will take effect In January 1971 The building was one of the most copied buildings of the I960*; The work of architect: Paul Rudolph and completed in 1983, aspects of the forceful reinforced concrete complex I have appeared in many buildIngy sinot. was very popular as insula tion, fireproofing and sound proofing. In 1970, for example, it was used in more than half the buildings constructed in the United States. - It had been assumed, how ever. that there is no haunt to users of the buildings in It has been widely disliked by its users. In 1989, large parts of it were destroyed by t Are that is generally agreed to have been arson. The ceilings in the portion burnt were re placed with a similar material which does not contain ashes- which the material was used. 4MC2B NATIONAL SAFETY NEWS M0. 49,800 . _ (3cnA?C?4oWa5vJT I To Yale attacks asbestos problem--Yale University, New Haven, CT, has embarked on an asbestos removal program that could cost as much as or more than $800,000. The project is to remove sprayed asbestos from the ceilings of the Art and Architecture Building, using a super wetting agent, called "wet water." (Cost: 250 gallons at $18-25 per gallon or up to $5,000.) Victor Osborne, safety manager, says that disposal costs could reach $50,000, and that removal costs, including those for labor and temporary lighting, could reach $750,000. The program was launched after Osborne, using a personal body monitor, found the levels were well over federal allowances (18 fibers per cc, as compared to federal TLV's of five per cc now and two per cc by January 1976). This indication of danger was com pounded by the facts that eye irritation was so chronic and severe that the Art and Architecture Librarian had to be kept from the building, and that maintenance personnel were probably exposed to higher levels than those indicated on the monitor. Joining Mr. Osborne in Yale University's concern are: Robert N. Sawyer, M.D., Department of Preven tive and Occupational Medicine; Peter Tveskov, Asso ciate Manager, Physical Plant; Severio Fodero, Ad ministrative Associate, University Health Services. Mr. Osborne is not only concerned with removing this hazard, be is in charge of developing the techniques for its safe removal and disposal. UCC 010037 I I L> f -x IV t -i AicW HAVEN REGISTER New Haven, Conn, j ? 'J^ PM-107,564 S- 124,798 Yah To Remove. Dangerous Asbestos In By CAROLYN SU5MAN asbestos-removal program. Os Staff Reporter borne's monitor registered over A wetting ageit so powerful IS fibers per cubic centimeter that only one pint is used in 300 of air. The current federal limit gallons of water will be tried {considered too high by ex istrongly linked with tbe flaking asbestos. Noted scientists and doctors claim that there isn't any safe level yet known o( exposure to the substance. Tuesday as a means of remov perts) is five fibers per cubic Malignancies linked to asbes ing tbe sprayed asbestos ceil- centimeter and that will be re tos may take 20 years to develop tags in tbe Yale University Art duced to two fibers in January, and continued exposure isn't re-1 and Architecture building. 1976. quired. Renowned asbestos re Tbe agent, known as "wet "We put it (a monitor) onto a searcher Or. Irving Sdikoff of water," has already* been used librarian arid he`got almost one ML Sinai School of Medicine in in weaker solution {eight ounces fiber per cubic centimeter justi New York says all unnecessary to two and oae-half gallons doing normal (non-cleaning) exposure should be avoided. regular water) and worked work. The problem for mainte In fact Selikoff told a Strat well. The more potent solution nance people is they get a beck ford audience last week of a is being tried to see if it is more of a lot more (exposure) than case where a worker had only effective the average person," Osborne six.weeks exposure to the asbes Yale safety manager Victor explained. . > tos, but developed cancer of the Osborne says at least 250 gal About two months ago, the lung because "that dust was lons of Uie less powerful solu building was closed from 2 to 7 exposing bis lungs for 20 tion would be needcdto remove a.m., the hours maintenance years." the asbestos at a cost of $16-620 and custodial work might be Efforts to remove the ceil a gallon. Osborne said that dis done. Osborne monitored the ings at the art and architecture posal of the asbestos, which has, operations and made sure any -building will probably be the been linked to cancer, could' workers were fully protected first o( such a large scale where cost over 230.000 and that from the falling and crumbling he substance will be removed removal of the substance from ceilings by special clothing. without contaminating anyone. the entire building, indudingj "It's not hazardous to occupy Removal techniques are being costs for temporary lighting the building," Osborne stress develc'cd by Csbame. and labor, could reach S750.000. ed. The basic problem is the low The asbestos wiil be sprayed Tbe extensive revamping of ceilings began iraking, particu with tbe wet water and taken off the building has been ordered since the discovery of very high levels of asbestos panicles dur ing normal cleaning activities at the building. Osborne has been involved1 with problems at the structure larly in the library, when books ' as it teccmes " gushv". Osborne * were grabbed off the top said, it -ill be placed in 55-gal- shelves, when light fixtures !cn drums and taken to a site in were changed, or when custo I --------- - - '"l_rr dians dusted. New York city which is licensed Osborne said the ceilings to handle and dispose of the were sealed with latex paint at materials. . ___________ for over three years since com one point and Uut "worked out plaints about the crumbling fine" until concern began to ceilings at the building were grow about the asbestos me being filed regularly back in nace. That was compounded I, 1971. by complaints of eye irritations I Tests conducted then found by people who worked in the | asbestos levels weren't hazard building. 1 ous, but only the air was being Asbestos contains nnusnal measured. Tests later conduct chemical and physical proper ed by Osborne, wearing a per ties and is considered one of the sonal body monitor to measure prime industrial causes of can exposure directly on individu cer in the world. als, found lewis well over, About 70 per cent of the ceil federal allowances. ing area of tbe building, esti In the Art and Architecture mated at 70.000 square feet, is library, a prime target of the covered with the sprayed asbes tos compound. Robert Kaufmans, art and 'architecture librarian, has been kept out of the building because of chronic eye irritations Bmlmni UCC 010038 Asbestos fallout Building lac** $200,000Job ofremoving asbestos callings f Almost 40,000 sq ft of sheetrock ceiling panels sprayed with asbestos must be removed from a multi-use building be cause of the health threat posed by fall ing asbestos particles and asbestos dust circulating in the ventilation system. More than 52,000 books must first be removed before the panels can be taken out of the first floor library of Yale Uni versity's art and architecture building j in New Haven, Conn. Thejob of deaning and moving the books to a safer building and dismantling the ceiling panels in the library and the building's auditorium, studio and exhibit areas will cost at least $200,000. It hat not been decided -whether to install a new acoustical ceiling or to leave exposed the petstressed- concrete floors. A new library ventilation system, probably using air ducts,, will have to be installed to replace the 10-in. ple num system now above the sheetrock panels , that are mounted on furring channels Incandescent lighting equip ment built into the ceiling-will also have to be replaced. The asbestos flaking was first noticed several years ago. A commercial sealant was applied to the ceilings this year but is apparently ineffective. The Asbestos Information Association* a New York * City-based organisation of eight asbestoe products manufacturers, recoin mends sealing asbestos-sprayed ceiling, panels to prevent flaking and the raul- tant asbcstos.dust. The falling asbestos pardcies have been linked to chronic eye irritations in at least three library users, and the cus todial staff is now wearing protective face tnsrirt Flaking of spray-applied as- ` bestoe and the resultant dot that dreu- lates in air-ventilation systems may poaea cancer threat, according to the National Institute toe . Occupational Safety and Health. The ribbed concrete building was de signed by-architect Paul Rudolph, New Haven, in a pinwheei plan of over lapping and interpenetrating plat forms. The building has seven stories and 36 different levels with ceiling heights from 7i ft in the library to 28 ft in other areas. The same problem of flaking of spray-applied asbestos was experienced this year at the University of California at Lot Angeles. Asbestos finish had to be scraped from ceilings in 800 rooms in two dormitories at a cost of $250,000. UCC 010039 O -- --Plo V g. 5, S 11? .2* 3 Si-E < o* ft? ~2 o et-sg ago o JC I* 8-5 Cs zV I 0.5 Sf o -S &B &-S-S C ^ > 5 g rf 3 ts So Pl*-"*l | >M sfMPM Sl|3 Jl o t b2l e J5 .1 23j "-j3>* Sio. c j? -s Js+f4 ^v Sssi8biw5 2 S2 8-a-o < w 3 5.5 S' 5 Sg 3* 03 CJ O 2u " i O 3# if? I Bills * .-8S o 1 8 M5oir2 * o Cl gt by Fred Strebeigh Clean Sweep: Getting Asbestos Out of the A&A For the second time in five years the students and facilities at the building will be scattered to different parts of the campus. A fire in June. 1969, burned out three floors of the nine-floor, 36-level building, closing it for a year of repair. Now most of the building will be closed again, in successive stages, while work ers wearing goggles and respirators re- move 70,000 square feet of asbestos ceiling material. Asbestos is now known to be a cause of cancer and for some time has been known to cause a scarring of the lungs called asbestosis, which in its ex treme form is the "white lung" expe rienced by asbestos factory workers. A continuing study--using pioneering methods which should be widely applic able elsewhere--by Dr. Robert N. Saw yer, a physician in the University Health Services, has shown that workers and perhaps occasional users of the building are exposed to amounts of asbestos ex ceeding federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) limits. Removal of the asbestos--a fire and sound retardant which was sprayed into place in the late stages of the building's construction--will cost a minimum $250,000 and might reach $750,000, according to John F. Embersits, director of University Operations. Thus still another chapter has begun in the building's history of costliness and controversy. Its dedication on Nov. 9, 1963, was featured as a cover story and hailed as a major event by most Ameri can architectural magazines. Under A. Whitney Griswold, president of Yale, who had urged the University to "trust the creative spirit and impulse of the greatest architects of our generation," Yale had become a showpiece of modem architecture. Its jewels included Louis Kahn's Art Callery, Eero Saarinen's In galls Rink, and Cordon Bunshaft's Beinecke Rare Book Library. The Art A Architecture Building, completed soon after Criswold's death, was the last building he had commis sioned. Paul Rudolph, one of the coun try's most original architects and then chairman of Yale's Department of Archi tecture, hod created the $3 million build ing, it was said, to serve as a challenge and inspiration to students of architec ture and as a unifying structure for all art students at Yale. Almost immediately it became clear that the building was morexhallenge than inspiration. The floor-to-ceiling windows didn't open, and some had to be washed by men in bosun's chairs lowered from the roof--bringing the cost of a win- UCC 010040 dow-washing to about $2,000, accord ' ing to Mr. Embersits. There was no large service elevator linking the building s many levels, and moving large or heavy objects was further impeded by con stricted stairways. And a print-making instructor, who had told Rudolph that bis students needed an open and welllit space, found himself consigned to "a bloody dungeon1' in the basement. Numerous improvements in lighting and alteration of interior spaces have been demanded in the building--which since 1963 has cost the University about $500,000 for changes and extraordinary maintenance, such as window washing; according to Mr. Embersits. In view of all the complaints over the yean. Dr. Sawyer was not surprised that he received what be called "cease and desist" orders when he first went to the administration in February to report his suspicion that aspects of the building-- particularly the asbestos--might be en dangering workers there. "I was told," he said, "not to waste my time over there"--that a study had been done by the State in 1971 and had shown negligible results. That study had used asbestos fiber counters placed in a room overnight to monitor fallout from the ceiling. "I had no axe to grind." Dr. Sawyer says. "I didn't go in looking for trouble. The trouble was coming to us here at the Health Service. We were getting a lot of complaints." One complaint came from a librarian in the art library, who had chronic con junctivitis--an irritation of the mucous membrane of the eye--and who told Sawyer of two similar cases on the staff. Dr. Sawyer also learned that the director of the library, Robert Kaufmann, was suffering from an eye injury he had re ceived away from work but which was failing to heal. Yale physicians examined his eye and found what they thought might be asbestos fibers. . But Dr. Sawyer's main contributions were to realize--a discovery apparently made for the first time--and to document that a maintenance worker bolting a light fixture into the ceiling, ora librarian handling asbestos-coated books, would inhale more fibers than the state s fiber monitor did while sitting in a quiet room. Under his direction, people equipped with protective respirators and "person nel monitors"--filtered pumps which sim ulate normal breathing rates--per formed dusting and cleaning chores and recorded asbestos fiber counts well in excess of the OSHA limits. When Dr. Sawyer presented these data to Yale administrators, their reaction was "Wowl Of course!" and he was on his way to his present status as Yale's as bestos czar. New he is called on to over see even routine maintenance, like changing light bulbs. While Dr. Sawyer is apparently the first to correctly analyze and document the extent to which different activities in a building affect the amount of as bestos that a person inhales, Yale is not the first and certainly not the last institu tion faced with the problem and a need to monitor it. Sprayed-on ceilings have been used in thousands of buildings, and Dr. Sawyer speculates that the degree of danger varies considerably according to such factors as ceiling height and changes in humidity level The University of California at Los Angeles, for instance, faced a similar problem with asbestos ceilings in 800 dormitory rooms. Quiet room monitoring showed an asbestos level similar to that found during the 1971 monitoring at Yale. Nevertheless the asbestos was re moved. The university did not attempt to document the asbestos level during activities such as cleaning. "We'redeveloping knowledge and ex pertise in an area that I believe is going Workers in art and architecture library stacks (photo above) remove books from asbestos-dust-covered shelves, prior to vacuum cleaning (right). UCC 010041 to Have tremendous importance," Dr. Sawyer says. "We've outstripped many ' so-called experts already in what we've done-our study has shown a quantum leap in understanding from the 1971 study." He expects that the greatest value of the work done at the Art & Architecture Building will be in reports on Yale's new monitoring and removal techniques, which will be published and made available all over the country. "I'd hate to be putting so much time into this if it were only a brush fire," he says. On Aug. 20 Dr. Sawyer submitted a 16-page interim report documenting pos sible health hazards in addition to as bestos in the building--undrinkable water, bird cadavers in the ventilation system, low railings and low ceilings. "Considering the height and accessi bility of unprotected hard objects, b'gbt fixtures, open electrical sockets, railings, ledges and open louvers," he wrote, "it is our serious opinion that physical dan ger exists for adults taller than 6*2" and children below the age of 10." The re port urged corrective measures, includ ing the removal of asbestos from the entire building. Most of the recom mendations have been accepted and work begun. The asbestos problems, however, cause the most difficulty and anxiety--particularly because. Dr. Saw yer says, the levels at which it is dan gerous are still being defined. One study, for example, by a physi cian at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York, published in September, reported a high incidence of apparently asbestos-related lung scarring and cancerous tumorsknown as mesotheliomas in the families of workers who many years ago had been employed in a New Jersey asbestos fac tory. It suggested that even very modcrate and short-term exposure can, after a waiting period of 10 to perhaps 40 years, result in serious illness. That study has prompted labor lead ers to call for a reduction to virtually zero in the OSHA-allowed maximum limit. It is now defined as five fibers per cubic centimeter of air and will be re duced to two fibers per cubic centimeter in 1976. Dr. Sawyer's study found that light dusting stirred up a count of 5.3 fibers, while a worker who bit the ceil ing while cleaning was exposed--for a short time--to a count of 18.3 fibers. Work is now well under way (see photos') on the year-long project of scouring the building. The first element to go is the 52,000-volume library, which will be vacuum-cleaned, book-by-book. and removed to the Cross Campus Li brary. The equipment includes two $700 vacuum cleaners with absolute filters of a type developed for gathering moon dust from space capsules. Workers are wearing respirators for vacuuming, and when they begin to pull down ceiling panels Dr. Sawyer says they will use masks hooked to an air compressor. Dr. Sawyer has been relieved of all other health service responsibilities and to be on hand at all hours for cleaning has had a bed in the building's guest suite made up for him. He has taken over Paul Rudolph's old office--where there is no asbestos--for his equipment The new frustration over the building has again focused attention, perhaps un fairly, on its architect. The charge has been frequently repeated that, as one high Yale administrator put it, "the problem with the A & A is that Rudolph was his own client" Mr. Rudolph, who says he has "be come very emotional about that partic ular building " disagrees. "I certainly didn't think I had a free hand," he re called in an interview last week. "There were building committees and buildingsand-grounds people. It seemed to me at the time that there were enough P*- ple looking over my shnnhlrr at Yale. "Aik! 1 certainly Had no idea at tHc time that there was a licaltH problem involving asbestos. Maybe other people did, but 1 don't really think so. I cer tainly don't think if anylxxly bad ever said, 'You know this is a jxitential health hazard,'I would ever have put it in. Even I." Alvin Eisenman, a member of the building committee for the A & A, be lieves that one reason why the ceilings were never questioned is that the com mittee was never told about them, but he adds that "this business of blaming ' Rudolph has gone too far. The main problem with the building probably was that there wasn't anyone really strong on the building committee." Because of the extreme frustration and anxiety, there has even been talk around the University of possible legal action. While the work of many people has once again been disrupted at the Art & Architecture Building, for others it is a question of degree. "Some students come into the library with handkerchiefs tied over nose and mouth," one librarian said, "while some come in to study and smoke three packs of cigarettes in a night and don't seem to worry about asbestos." V* UCC 010042 \