Document 7REp1Gb9V2g8Q049QmJRGzKVR

FILE NAME: Union Carbide (UC) DATE: 1973 May 22 DOC#: UC350 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Union Carbide Internal Letter from Medical Dept to Legal Dept RE Calidria Asbestos Study - Contesting Company Interpretations Barry Castleman's Union Carbide file CD-ROM Document #UC 3 5 nATB-mgaw bibliography of articles abstract from scientific journal single presentation from conference entire proceedings from conference industry report government agency report newspaper article, magazine article National Safety News NSC Transactions of Annual Safety Congress memorandum __ congressional testimony meeting __ agenda ___ minutes ___attendee list other CARBIDE INTERNAL CORRESPONDENCE pans UNION CARBI DE CORPORATI ON To (Name) Division -ocof/on M r. R o b ert F . X. F u sa ro Law Departm ent 47th F loor .opy fo 270 park avenue, new york, newyork 10017 Dot Originating Dept, Answering U h r data Svb/act May 22, 1973 Medical Departm ent D ear Mr, Fusaro; . We have carefu lly studied the C a lid ria A sb esto s study fro m . M ining &. M etals D ivision in N iag ara F a lls . The study w as divided into a seven page rep o rt and a six page slide presentation. Both w ere v e ry well done and re p re s e n t jjnuch study on the p a rt of the author. H owever, we seem to d iffer in ou|r in te rp re ta tio n of the lite ra tu re as p resen ted . Going through the seven page study, "The Safe Use of C a lid ria RG -244" and co m p arin g it w ith the NIOSH c r ite r ia document for asbestos, paragraph by paragraph, we find these variations t in interpretations. Section 2, A sbestos Toxicology, paragraph 2. "It is im portant to note, how ever, that asb esto sis and sta tistic a l excess occurrences of bronchogenic carcin o m a (lung c a n cer), the two m p st com m on asb esto s related d ise a se s, have occurred only in w orkers w ith long te rm exposures to m assive concentrations of asbestos duet. The Irisk of th is type of exposure is usually in asbestos m ines and m ills and in larg e m anufacturing o p e ra tio n s . , . " NIOSH III - 7 re p o rts "a n u m b er of tr a d e s experiencing Wo M r. R o b e rt F. X. F u s a r o -2- May 22, 1973 intense interm ittent exposures are also suspect" and "positive x-ray finding am ong individuals having had known exposures to asbestos as sh o rt as one day", m -8 says, "This excess of'lung can cer was ' dem onstrated among those w orkers with jobs which entailed heavy exposures irre sp e c tiv e of the duration of em ploym ent. " IIM 8 , "In 1968, B alzer and Cooper reported asb e sto sis among insulation w orkers exposed at levels not exceeding the tim e-w eighted average of 5 mppcf..*' On 111- 2 1, NIOSH s ta te s . "In a re c e n t unpublished p a p e r, W illiam s, B aier, & Thom as com piled data from the Pennsylvania D epartm ent of Health file s on e x p o su re le v els at v ario u s te x tile p ro c e s s in g o p e ra tio n s in two p la n ts. T he d ata included d u st co n c e n tra tio n s frp m 1930 th ro u g h 1967 in one p lan t and fro m 1948 through 1968 in th e second p lan t. Even though controlled exposures w ere for the m ost p a rt below 5 mppcf and in many c a s e s below the 1968 ACC1H N otice of Intended Change to 2 m ppcf, 64 c a se s of a sb e sto sis w ere rep o rted from th ese two asb esto s tex tile plants. The authors conclude that: "If asb esto sis is to be prevented, airborne asbestos dust m ust be stringently controlled in the working environm ent." IIX-22 co n clu d es, "C ham pion's two c a s e s se e m to su p p o rt e a r lie r data of fam ily cases, with reasonably sh o rt an d /o n low levels of exposure. " C oncerning the ris k due to m ining and m illin g , th e NIOSH docum ent h as th is to sa y on p ages 18 and 19 of S ection HI: 'The a u th o rs (McDonald M r, R obert F. X. F u s a r o -3- May 22, 1973 et al) concluded that the additional data supports evidence of other studies th at even heavy exposure to asbestos in mining and m illing c a rrie s only m odest risk of contracting lung cancer andU ess stiU of contracting ' m alig n an t m e so th e lio m a. " A nother quotation on page 19 is -W right p o is e d out that others have noted the striking differences in the health experiences of w orkers in m ines and m ills as com pared to other w orkers,, specifically in com parison to insulation operations, but that he felt the question w as still unresolved. In co n trast to populations exposed to mixed environm ents, th o s e engaged in the m ining and m illin g of a sb e sto s fib e rs showed no augm ented frequency of bronchogenic can cer." NIOSH concludes "Although it has been suggested th at the r is k s ' a s s o c ia te d w ith a s b e sto s ex p o su re m ay be le s s it* m ining th an in in d u stria l I operations, additional study will be n e cessary to confirm if such is tru e , based upon the com parison made by Selikoff". On p ag es 23 & 24 th e re a r e co m m en ts on th e o c c u rre n c e of two cases, one m esotheliom a and one asb esto sis, in floor tile in sta lle rs, and sp ecifically com m ents on the very low lev els encduntered in this w ork on a tim e-w eighted average. To continue with the third paragraph under A sbestos Toxicology, in which it is stated that ch ry so tile asb esto s does not cause an excess of m e s o th e lio m a s . NIOSH in V -l sa y s, "T he co nsum ption of a sb e sto s in th is C G G 5G M r, R obert F . X, F u s a r o ' -4- Mky 22, 1973 country overwhelm ingly i,, a ,. form chrysO M .. ^ form s of are ,, ..d , , ,, h ,, ,,dcidoli.e ^ r e o f ,.. m ixed c h ry .o .ile and a re encounteredjalone, ,,`aim y in ,, . ,, rch . . 0 specialty .nations, . I, ,, th, predom inant ^ of com m unity that an excess of m esotheliom a ,, ^ ,n ^ fa ^ asb esto s in d u stry in the United States, to Section HI, page 1 1 , 1 . found ,,,, ,, ,, ,, ,,= out .ha, , c ,, . r picture of relationship ^^ ^ aad the production of asb esto s,., neoplasm s, ,,, a ^ defined in the exposures reported, " NIOSH d e s c rib e s ,,1-22 , ,, ..o th e lio m . occurring ' in which " i, ,, ,, believed ,h ,, he w a , exposed only e h ry so tile ., _,, Continuing paragraph * a * . ^ . ,, , ay< 'fin a lly , th e re is no evidence t h ,, th , g e ,, ',, a , ,,, y ^ the , mourn of a .b e e to . fiber , the community airj. The s . N atio.a, Academy of Science states in an O ctober, i m p u t a t i o n , "A sbestos. T h . Need F o r and F easibility of A ir Poliution C ontrols", "A . p re se n t, th e re is no evidence . .I! found in m o ., m e m b e r, of the genera, population health and longevity. ,, w e subm it that these statem ent. ,, ,, precisely ,h. ,am e. M r. R obert F . X. F u s a r o -5 - M ay 22, 1973 In S ectio n III, page 23, MOSH ,, w . . . however, may be raieed of a possible neighborhood exposure going to work The ,, PO=re eve some questinn co,, ' -- must b .` ,,,,e ,d e re d ,, . lh- -- no,.a a , s . ,, to a . ,, " d " n' w * - 3 - -- - - 0 - C alld r,,,, par, 8raph 3, ,aCU" " " " " * t of the phraee "tKpo,, a adv, exp s e d to a s b e s to s ", and ^he advice is given to foll h WOSH r e c mmendafcion th at "exposed ,, a t m e a n s "avera'n* a, P d to asbestos average exposures above one fib- fiv. ,, P" " r p n k a * P - y .. above P" " TM * h a . no v.H dityi ^ : to ii 1 regulation is interpreted * aMhmmi. * . . b o . . o . p, ,, J f t . iob ? j0 b ' o r exposure to os as a usual part of a regular job assignment". There is no ml - number of fibers designated below which^i. not . " stipulated procedure. ,, ,, ,, , ' ^ ^ ^ ,* obligated to glv, ,M, iM o m , tfoi] (o cu,, oraer> " C* " dri* K - 2 i n P o l Ke ..e b K , . i,, . , w equ,, M(>ii ' " " ,h* " raP" " S " * U" ` " S *>" ^ registered Indu.trial Hyg- -- . s ..b e a c c e p ta b le to any re g u la to r/y agg ennccvy, aanndd we woul,d `mot want to convey a contrary impression to a customer. Section 5 - Silica Toxicology. This is , , docum ent o r th e OSHA ree u la tin n r . . * tl*entioned in th e NIOSH i RG.2a..,.. ' * 1 P a rt f "S^ e Han<Uing o t 'C a lid ria 1 "' 0305 M r' R o b ert F . X. F u sa ro -6. May 32, 1973 In S ectio n 6 - r>inn-s,+t rC~ o n1tro l, W h e n it Should be pointed out that it " shall be ' ^ Ventllati n is dicussed a "d m aintained i,, accords # accordance with the Am-,.- C n S tru c te d - taU ed 1 * ^ ANSI 2 -9 .2 -1 ,7 1 " citation and penalty. the Design ,, J" ` S" U" !ar`' ' f " ?< L " 1 E * * " S y ste m ,, a ll u re to com ply with th is staB(i c * W0Uld lead to Slide Com m entan'ec ' Sllde 3 - thls is m isleading. Slide 4 - "excess" in fa n f V' 1 less than the allowable =-- o ,e n d " ,, ,,, y,,m, r b e i a ^ o rie > j Chrysotile is not an important distinction, ' S ljde 5 - m a ssiv e lone t e r m a, ' 8 m eXP0* " '-* * W .t e . ha. caused a s b e s to s is and c a n c e r, but so h* i ut 80 have, some low level " hort ter m exPp ossuurreess-. tthh,is ls a hal!f truth, and is frii s 1sadiug. S lid es 7 through 10 - th j - * *h' ' -- ti e. n, ashes,c. -- d h n tix te le v n n .te th .in ^ .,,^ produce disease, SUde 11 - we a r e -discussing c h ry 60tUe; th is . . . tactic. ,s 18 a diversionary y r-' M r. R obert F. X. F u s a ro -7- May 22, 1973 l S lide 12 - ad v ise deleting " s tro n g " fro m the f ir s t sen ten ce. Five cases did occur, and this is likely to be co n sid ered an excess fo r a gi;oup of 9304 em ployees. Dr, Selikoff has studied the jbhn M anville m anufacturing i p lan t in New J e r s e y as w ell ab th e in su la tio n w o rk e rs . S lide 20 - m o n ito rin g and re c o rd keeping re q u ire m e n ts a re stipulated in the regulation, including m ethods and frequency of m onitoring. T hese requirem ents stay in force no m atter how good the com pliance is or how long it continues, ' S lide 21 - th e m inim um m e d ic a l ex am inations re q u ire d a re m ore extensive and specialized and frequent than those generally perform ed in industry, and therefore m o re expensive. The sta te m e n t about NIOSH recom m ending "exposed to asbestos" to m ean "average exposures above, one fiber p er cc" is obsolete and should be deleted. The OSHA re g u la tio n does not say! th is: th ey m ean a re g u la r exposure to any asb e sto s. Tljiere is no point in speculating o r showing a slide of naturally occurring outcrops of asbestos. C30SQ Mr. R o b e rt F. X. F u s a r o -8- kfay 22, 1973 S lid e 25 - It is th e o re tic a lly p o ssib le to. sliip, s to r e , tr a n s f e r and use asbestos without releasing any to the environment, but how m any installations actually matoage to do it? . This glib statem ent m akes a difficult job seem sim ple. The statem ent "M ore is probably known about the ' potential health hazards of asbestos and the proper m eans for controlling o r elim inating them than would ; : , be the case with possible substitute m a te ria ls. " is certainly debatable: and is clearly not tru e universally. Q uestio n s ' W asn't the Academ y of Science quote regarding fib e rs found in m ost m em bers of the general population ra th e r t^an asbestos in a ir and w ater? ' , D r. S elikoff's w ork is no longer lim ited to a "v e ry lim ited group of w o rk ers, none of whom w ere exposed only to chrysotile". don't forget chrysotile causes disease. And im portantly, V ery tru ly yours,, KSL:lk K. S, Lane M* Ijj Assistan t M edical D irector