Document 4va3N0R2jdL77ek8bwvNrmgzR

' Colt Industries Garlock Inc Mechanical Packing Division Induslnai Packing I G(it> Divi'lKin !'.lnr( I'alruyia. New Yoik 14S22 315 597-4B1I Gentlemen: This is in regard to the handling of Garlock products containing asbestos in general and compressed asbestos sheet in particular. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has pub lished a regulation covering the safe handling of asbestos and asbestos products (29CFR 1910.1001). A portion of this regulation states that "Caution labels shall be affixed to all raw materials, mixtures, scrap, waste, debris and other products containing asbestos fibers, or to their containers, except that no label is reguired where asbestos fibers have been modified by a bonding agent, coating, binder or other material so that during any reason ably foreseeable use, handling, storage, disposal, processing or transportation, no airborne concentrations of asbestos fibers in excess of the exposure limits prescribed in paragraph 'b) of this section will be released." All of our asbestos containing products are currently carrying the OSHA warning label so that our customers will be alerted to the fact that the products they are receiving do contain asbestos. This is being done even though products like compressed asbestos sheet contain a binder which performs a bonding function and tends to inhibit the generation of free asbestos fiber. We consider the possi bility of release of fibers in the case of products like compressed asbestos sheet remote under normal handling and use. It is, of course, impossible for us to know of all uses our customers (or the customers of our customers) may make of our products. If, for instance, a customer was to perform certain unusual operations like power wire brushing or disc grinding, cr if the compressed asbestos sheet were used as a pile driver pad, it is possible that there might be a release of asbestos sufficient to exceed that specified in 29CFR 1910.1001. The user should, therefore, refer to 29CFR 1910.1001 for information on handling asbestos and monitoring the release of asbestos fibers. OSHA Regulation 29CFR 1910.1001 is contained in Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations - Labor (Parts 1900-1919) . This publica tion is available from: Superintendent of Documents U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D. C. 20402 We hope that this information will be helpful to you. Very truly yours Harold R. Hughes Senior Chemist HRH:mop