Document 7O94dVp3JK0kQ2qRLQYpNJ8pa
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INTRA-COMPANY CORRESPONDENCE
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Mr. A. S. Rev 1 in - New York F. H. Edwards - Toledo BATH IRON WORKS
dm August 9, 1966 cc;
The subject company is pursuing the best course of action to solve their problems by hiring the Harvsrd School of Public Heelth es consultants. They will determine the degree of exposure end recommend methods of bringing it to acceptable levels.
The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
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has established a threshold limit value (sometimes referred to as maxi*
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mum allowable concentration) for air-borne asbestos particles at S million /ft particles per cubic foot of air. JtMMtQMrtbwvtf' in the air should not /
* ` which is an average figure over an 8-hour working day. exposures may be considered excessive if massive exposures occurk^ ^
at certain times of the work period even though the computed average Is ^
within the limit value.
The extent of air contamination is determined by the air sampling
unit - a Konimeter in this case. In order to avoid expense and work, the
hygienist may assume that the collected aggregate consists only of the
hazardous material.# TS<
y other dusts are air
borne in the industrial atmosphere and., of course, are collected by the
sampling unit. I am sure chat Harvard will analyze the samples for
asbestos fiber. As an example, our Kaylo products are composed primarily
of calcium silicate which is not considered a health hazard. Intermixed
in the calcium silicate is approximately 15% of asbestos fiber. Obviously,
the dust created in the cutting or sawing of Kaylo should contain about
this same percent of asbestos.
It is possible that Harvard may not agree with the limit value of the A.C.G.I.H. and may suggest a lower limit. If such is the case, they* no doubt, have data to support it.
Because of Bach Iron's unfortunate experience, I am sure that they will want to take drastic measures to prevent future problems. They have two alternatives with a hazardous material: (1) provide ventilation adequate to maintain dust levels within the recotnnended limits, or (2) provide suitable, approved respirators for workmen if ventilating equipment cannot be adapted to the operation. The former method is the best because workers will remove the masks whenever supervision is looking the other way.
,, ggllUUI lung diueeji, uftes >2 enlightened company will pro-
_ protection and we abmmfed endorse adequate health and safety programs, s you know, many companies are handling asbestos without health problems and they are doing it by means of good protective measures.
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F. H. Edwards
01 039 147