Document 6RrXODQBd1JZRv1Dx9Lvod4zE

FRICTION MATERIALS STANDARDS INSTITUTE, INC., E-210 ROUTE U, PARAHUS, N.J. 07652 BULLETIN N 0. 5 5 0 October 7, 1975 OSHA PROPOSED NEW ASBESTOS STANDARD Enclosed is a copy of an article as it appeared in the New York Times of Sunday October 5, 1975. The full publication of the proposed standard will be in the Federal Register on October 9, 1975. The proposed new standard is rough. The current regulations call for the 5 fibers/cc limit to be reduced to 2 flber/cc on July 1, 1976. This new proposal calls for a standard of 0.5 fibers/cc (effective date not established). I have excerpted some of the more significant parts of the OSHA proposed standard (from a covering letter from the Asbestos Information Association): 1. Reduce the permissible exposure limit to a TWA of 0.5 fibers per cubic centimeter (500,000 fibers per cubic meter) and reduce the ceiling limit to 5 fibers per cubic centimeter (5 million fibers per cubic meter). 2. Add a 15 minute sampling period for determination of the ceiling limit. 3. Establish additional requirements for regulating areas, employee rosters, hygiene facilities, employee information and training, signs and labels, monitoring and medical surveillance. 4. Extend the period for retention of monitoring and medical records to 40 years or for the duration of the employees' employment plus 20 years, whichever is longer. It would appear that comments on technical feasibility, costs to the employer, and possible plant shut-downs might have some hearing on adoption of this stringent new standard. 'J**'' . From the draft copy I have seen, they are asking for objections or comments prior to December 8, 1975. Written data should be in quadruplicate to: Docket Officer, Docket H-033 U.S. Department of Labor Room N-3620 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20210 Telephone (202) 523-8076 Again, this proposed new standard will be in the Federal Register of October 9, 1975. FMS1--0212 E. W. Drislane nj FMSI03287 FRICTION MATERIALS STANDARDS INSTITUTE, INC. , S;gUj -f oiZ^a. T'^g-S tne P/Za sen osha QC.T&e>g- S, jAsggs-Tos STaKO^ g<?vs Labor Department Seeking Reduction in Exposure of ' Workers and Families By JANE BRODY The United States Depart ment of Labor has proposed a new standard to protect workers and their families from tho lung-scarring and cancercausing effects of asbestos, a mineral of a thousand uses to which millions of American workers are exposed. The existing asbestos stan dard, which has" been widely contested by labor groups, was designed only to prevent a'sbestosis, a scarring of the lungs that, if severe, can turn a work er into a cripple in a respirator. However, the Labor Depart ment's Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in its proposal that new informa tion had, developed showing! that the existing standard would not prevent asbestosis and would certainly not pre vent asbestos-caused cancers. Cancers, especially those in volving the lung, gastrointes tinal tract and lining of the chest and abdominal cavities, have accounted for more than 40 per cent of deaths among seme groups of asbestos work ers, a rate three to four times higher than that in the general population. In addition, studies in South Africa ar.d New Jersey have shown that the families of as-| bfcstos workers also face an increased cancer risk because they are exposed to asbestos fibers carried home on the workers' clothing, Delayed Tiber Effect j ^Asbestos enters the body mainly through inhalation. It may also be ingested in food or drink contaminated with the mineral fibers Once in the bo dy, the fibers tend to persist, remaining dormant for many yearl However, 20 or more years later, cancers caused by these fibers may become clini cally apparent. The Labor Department's pro posed standard would greatly reduce the amount of asbestos fibers now allowable in the air. a worker breathes and v/ould sharply reduce a lower standard scheduled to take ef fect next year. Currently the standard permits a level of five million fibers per cubic meter of air. This was to have been reduced to two million fibers per cubic meter by next July. 'The two million level was diecided upon on the basis of . experience in one British asbes tos factory, where a study of 290 men indicated that, at about twice that level, only a small percentage of workers exposed for 10 years or longer developed lung scarring. ^However, these workers have since been re-examined, and X-ray evidence of lung abnor-! malities was found in 40 toj 70,per cent of the same group of workers in addition, a num ber of asbestos-related cancers was found. The proposed standard would reduce worker exposure to as bestos to 500,000 fibers per cubic meter, averaged over an eight-hour day, with a maxi mum exposure at any one time of. five million fibers. Workers; would have to be educated asi the hazards of asbestos and how to avoid them and tested periodically to be sure they wejre suffering no ill effects. | 1' Records Kept Longer .'Records of both the medical examinations and tests of as bestos levels in the .work envir onment would have to be kept for 40 years, or for the duration of. the worker's employment plus 20 years, whichever lo was Iger. The current standard reo,uires retention of mediica! re'cor f 20 years and monitoringof records for only three years. Employers would also be re quired under the new standards to.provide shower and change rooms for asbestos workers to , guard against their inadvertant ly'. carrying the fibers home. No food, drink or smoking would be allowed where asbes tos was used and workers would have to wash thoroughly before eating during the work day. . . The new standard would cov er an estimated total of 50,000 workers involved in the manu facture of asbestos-containing products and about 40,000 field , insulation workers who are ex posed to asbestos dust, plus many thousands of others who work with products that con tain asbestos. The standard would not cover millions of workers in the con struction industry, where three- fourths of all asbestos products are used. The Labor Depart ment said it intended to formu late a separate standard for these workers, since they are usually employed in nonfixed work places and tend to be| highly transient. ' j The Labor Department must; now prepare an environmental1 impact and an inflationary inv! pact statement before holding a hearing on the proposed star,-1 dard. j In addition to asbestos stan-j dards, the department last week issued proposed new standards to limit worker expo-! sure to lead and toluene, both widely used hazardous indus trial substances, and estab lished procedures for handling Tl cither toxic chemicals in lie work environment. OCT 0 5 1975 FMSI 03288