Document 7zLdYj1KmM9Z6aXQvw37EeLR

AI > .' . i Asbssfos Sproy Link ^To Cancer Revealed By LOUIS TIMNICK The risk to any single individual is Asbestos spray used as fireproofing small, Nicholson saysv in most buildings during the last 17 years may be putting millions of Amer ican office workers in danger of devel oping cancer,, particularly if they smoke. "Smoking two packs of cigarettes a day increases your risk of dying of lung : cancer by some 40 per cent; here we are talking about less than one per cent A new study by the Mt Sinai School But because millious of people are ex of Medicine's Environmental Sciences posed, it is a significant public ^health Laboratory in New York found danger concern.'' ously high levels of asbestos fibers in of And, he noted, since asbestos, and fice buildings in five major cities. . cigarettes have been shown to work as a Asbestos was sprayed' onto the steelwork of most buildings erected in the 1960s and the Environmental Protection1. Agency (EPA) banned it in 1373 after deadly combination among asbestos . workers, smokers exposed to even low levels of asbestos in offices may be affected. finding high concentrations of cancer- .' The country's leading expert on as causing fibers in the air around con-^ bestos, ML Snaps Dr. Irving Belikoff, struedon sites. Today several alternative--fireproof ing substances have been developed, and most new. buildings are sprayed with rock wool mineral fiber or coated with gypsum and vermiculite mixture. But asbestos remains in the plenum space (the two or three feet between a false ceiling and the underside of file .recently warned that "we are all con taminated" by.-the ubiquitous fibers since asbestos is also found in clothing, drinking water and roads. Nicholson said the EPA is studying monitoring methods and special filters ! for use in buildings containing asbestos, i While these are being developi, how- j ever, "We can do something," he said, j floor above) of thousands of modern high-rises, eventually breaking loose and circulating into offices through the air conditioning and beating systems. "We are seeing concentrations inside the office buildings as high as we saw in . areas near asbestos plants or where spraying was being done," said Dr. Wil liam J. Nicholson, who conducted the ML Sinai study. "Proper maintenance may prevent more than SO per cent of the contamina tion," he said. "Maintenance personnel who have to go into the plenum space to repair wiring or pipes should be aware of the hazards and take care not to dis turb or damage the asbestos. A mask for the worker would be appropriate, and if the asbestos has to be removed while he fixes, say, a light fixture, K ' .Asbestos workers have been shown to should be wetted first" face a greatly increased risk of develop ing lnng cancer. Mesothelioma ( a rare Federal regulations treat asbestos as cancer of the lining of the chest and ab "a hazardous pollutant." Anyone sus domen), cancers of the gastrointestinal pecting an asbestos problem should con- tract and asbestosis (a scarring or the fact the local health department or re lungs) -- particularly if they also r, gional EPA office. smoke. . NewfKKOt Hews $rv4c*