Document BRDZobekE9xLE5By9X1QDoLzo

FILE NAME: Sprayed Asbestos (SPRA) DATE: 1979 DOC#: SPRA039 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Legal - Congressional Testimony of Barry Castleman OVERSIGHT HEARINGS ON ASBESTOS HEALTH ' HAZARDS TO SCHOOLCHILDREN -_ - HEARINGS r BEFORE THE , ., - , SUBCOMMITTEE ON ELEMENTARY, SECONDARY, ? sf - : AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION ' ' ~ ' OF THE, ' ~ COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR ; ; , ; HOUSE OE REPRESENTATIVES V / N IN E T Y -S IX T H C O N G R E SS ' , , : T IB 8T SESSION - . \ - H.R. 1435 and H.R. 1524 , TO ESTABLISH A PROGRAM FOR THE INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS W>R THE PRESENCE OF ASBESTOS MATERIALS, TO PROVIDE ' FUNDS FOR THE TESTING AND EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL ' 4 H azards, to create a loan program to a ssist in the -- Co n t a in m e n t o r r e m o v a l o f im m in e n t h a z a r d s to V ^ ^HEALTH AND SAFETY, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES V - HEARINGS HELD IN WASHINGTON, D.O., ON , JANUARY 8, 10; FEBRUARY 22, 1D79 805 : , Vv r ^ 1 C ASTI MAN , . a v o m a i ('o n m i h m A Md H u n ( A K 1 1) I ' m K I A - , ir.tnnifntjl a sb rM "- prob , I'rututlm n Agi m ' 1 i-foe-io-, disease a ho in - kidneys in asbestos w orkers The m illions of us w ith " ^ d " pr0!10ted " by S Z tJS S ^ lX -- tions, and so on general consensus of scientific opinion to Since th e mid-19oU s, m ere nas ueeii a g Presumed to carry some cancer th e effect th a t any exPsureJf* o ^ W e th r e s h o ld s " of exposure (besides zero) to a risk T h at is to say, th ere are the form ation of one m alignant cell to ' ^ e t h f t h r ^ t Co r r c X neroues g roirth This no-threshold concept of carcinogenesis is one of the most unanim ously h lld theories in biological science today - : ,,icings, a m atti : I ,.n mi nts on t In '11>; urn ol vour hearing- l! B a r k y 1 ( ' ' 11 t " ' s II INDUSTRY RESPONSIBILITY As C .n g r..s m Mdlen h a . H Z S tiX jS J S Z th e cost of sam pling dnd analy?ls fairness to both industry and the taxpayers th e historical conduct of th e industry in essed fn th e works of Dr ;k The no-threshold concept of c a rc in o g e n s was P ^ " ntlst lhls country has W ilhelm H euper, th e most e m m e " ^ v ^ s u b s tn u te carcinogens used in the workplace ;F1 piuduced H euper implored m dust y n0Ken in 1913 T h at sam e year, lung 1: and specifically n a m,yd sable occupational disease among asbestos i n . i i d n g s h a s I i i -i m i ' ' u i i : . ' , u . a i i l i a m e I I n 1 1' ' 1' 1 1 - at' .null.flit null. -t..- in i' 1l , ,,i , 1 m- 'A it h a - b r - i n - n 1111 u . i f building- in Ni w "i i , |h f a r e t h e i n ' " I - p " 1 : , .,11(1 t i l e H o n s l ul I n l l l . l u (h - l o - 111 t h e t o o l "|l 1 ' ,, in . a inn d u c t - u! ! In It . building- nln n ul" ' . p ,, |(. u t a - I u I n n k i l| \ i: II n t u l I, - N u l l - O ' 1' " ' r r ,s " f r s * S s ; . " " kTMTMdh f h . T . TM ^ y rs e , c n f u n u d Jo h n s-M a n u ll, ,,d * Cork with w orkers' compensation claim s ior th reat from its operations population was endangered by care g , . u su a l, H ueper called for developm ent <f mi I s caic,nogens Dr Thom as Mancuso was h/,r"d ; Products for industrially used t, m pjn\ with U " r , V , > M a n , i n , m ge.l . o n ., ol . . -u rl.u e - . , "... - g m / e d ", :,,if u r n U f u ! 1- - k i l l I I , - - k ol 'll w u s p i i i . i l K - ' I'll -OHIO t . of 1In- | ) 1 " b l l - l l l al- ' I I O' I l " l I " I i - 1 1"!111n; ` .............. L r s t o nset a n u rL c f u n n r o ^ r a r ^ oVtho^e years it jn u s t have been clear th at the r " r i ' ml>" " " t . a n i'T I r u m " [n 11' 11 11N i " ' i , l, " I a - b e - t u - in t i n a n li , t , ul t h a t l i ~k i n 11" n, u . , a . a ' u p i ' i i a '! d . - p ' 1' tl ' ' , ,|( l |. , ul t i n ' \ I - P i " > l -!,, -t ,i- . in. , i n i - at" , - , ,,| pi <'['!< v.nl, -.-.is . . f ,,! i- ,iiu! -h i|^ ' i 'i " . . ', . A,i[k*i - 111 'HI 1ii' !11\* . - - / i-i ,,.t i,il 1% dt >- i'M" (1 11 1^ll asbestos fiber to firms th a t did .i,,, p s ashestos industry accounting 5i ,111'111)rt v. hi kfti Hi i t'111 5 ! U 111. ' " S X i n r o r a T i n d u s t r y - s p o n s o r e d medical survey conducted by D,; A J Lanza, !,tu,r .i i - i,,( i.. i) h tkk 11 ^1 11' 11" 1 of M etropohtan L.fe, p u b . ^ e d wifir c m u c T ^ u l a 11m u ;n . v. i \ II I - ' 1 1" , . r tl Mu' . M m - I " - M i l t lolk' kUnPr r i o T k \ m l t e d purap U e eS u r n ner Simpson d L cn b ed as follows to lour tit f u n t- <" t 1" ' ' ,l other `n d u su y executives thing to distribute th - information - - I. ' ui h 1! - t i l - ' ti l " ' " , , , t , ,j U ,i- III- l. Lit I- 'I 1 , J Z t k r ^ d ' c a l i TM , u ,, ; , r p r . . 'd . n i ! ' - "> "S - ->>* `"JU" " , t I, ( ,1 1l|t U ' t[ kt I - 1I i . 1 S Z i 'f i J S l . '. vetoed pulthcat'On of re.earch done a. , , -v . 4 t |-v 1 ( t II, I \ , l l It '111 111 , . t t.t n . n l ; s p i n t i 1It i i .>! .< ; k. i i'- r tM- ntui 11-i ( - n u t ' l l m.*- .uni wiui uK<' "in'tKt ">r " * - N rd s m& -JM~i-X^i $*$ 9*$, iy 806 asbestotics, prior to th e Public H ealth Service's arrival. This gutted the data base the governm ent needed, especially regarding the dangers associated with less-in tense, long-term occupational exposure to asbestos Dust In 1947, the m em bers of th e Asbestos Textile In stitu te had confidential plant surveys conducted by the Industrial Hygiene Foundation. They were told that much more effort was needed to determ ine the effects of long-term exposure to levels less than the Public H ealth Service's tentative threshold limit value of 5 million parti cles per cubic foot of air. The hazards of applying sprayed asbestos insulation m ust have been obvious to industry from the day these products were introduced Industry sources give values ol 150 to 1500 fibers per m illiliter of a ir for undam ped spraying of asbestos (the cu rren t U S stan d ard forbids peak exposures over Hlf/ml) Equally high dust levels arise from sweeping up th e debris Spraying asbestos was so hazardous th a t in 1945 th e Chief Inspector of Factories in G reat B ritain sen t a notice to 70 thermal insulation contractors advising am ong o th er things th a t "no o th er person should work in the sam e com partm ent (of a ship w here asbestos spraying was done) unless also provided with a respirator." It is possible th a t one or two sm aller firm s failed to realize how dangerous asbestos was, and th is in tu rn led them to use it in sprayed form ulations rath er th an employ safe substitutes Johns-M anville did not even begin to affix euphemis tic caution labels on its sacks of asbestos fiber until late in 1968 or 1969. Other asbestos m ining companies d id n 't put w arning labels on th e ir product until the 1970 s By th a t time, m inutes of the Asbestos Textile In stitu te were full of talk about (1) supporting research a t McGill U niversity in order to obtain favorable publicity (19651; and (2) bringing pressure on Dr Irving Selikoff at th e M ount Sinai School of Medicine to not m ake so much noise about the cancer th re a t of asbestos (19711 The m inutes of the trade association m eetings are devoid of anything except concern for the health of the asbestos business. The Canadian asbestos mining firms finally supported an epidemiological study by th e Industrial Hygiene Foundation (published 1958), th a t was aptly described by Wilhelm Hueper as, "statistical acrobatics which tend to obscure incriminating evidence" about carcinogenicity In view of all this, it is not so surprising th a t sprayed asbestos insulation products came into widespread use in this country sta rtin g only 20 years ago The long time suppression of information on the hazards of asbestos, especially carcinogenicity, and industry's failure to support scientific medical research was an essential step m paving th e way for such a product to achieve widespread acceptance in th e 1960's No less foreseeable th an th e epidemic of cancer initiated am ong millions of construction w orkers was the deterioration of asbestos ceilings in school buildings V andalism , horseplay, and such things as indoor ball playing all take th e ir toll on school structures, in addition to the common problems of aging (moisture, vibration, etc ) over the years Equally foreseeable to those who w ere " keeping the lid on asbestos" was th e enorm ous renovation and demolition hazard we would have to reckon with as these buildings become old and obsolete at the end of this century And though th e abuses of th e asbestos in dustry probably did a g reat deal to stim u late the public aw akening to the issue of environm ental cancer in the 1970's, most of this story took place before there was much of an occupational or environ m ental regulatory auth o rity in the country to oppose th e freewheeling m arketing plans of the asbestos industry CONCLUSION Congressman M iller's bill th u s has th e m erit of (1) placing a financial responsibili ty on th e shoulders of those who profited by th e m arketing of these deadly products, and i2) setting some lim it on th e readiness w ith which public funds alone will be used to deactivate the cancerous minefield our schools have become as a result of criminal business practices SCHOOL OI MFC M Represent at 402 Canon H o u s e Of t i ct Washington, . Ca 3u ' 1 l C Dear Chairmnr Per Th e p ri ' W " environment a ' pro malignanc> . .sed b o r n e f i b e r 1. The as' the smaller These pcsit where the\ wi t h a hi ^ h m e t a s t a s i ye throughout T h e -,1 may be 0 u2 found in lui microseopy c o n d u c t f p* T h e pr< a n a l y s i s va t e c h n o 1o g v . x -ra y energy ic h sp- Rev l ew of S u n n i n y Vi i C o s t 1.1 a n d w i t h c he morphologv o Zoom rr i , s i mu 11 a n e >u^ p r i n t s " ct i The newer tf