Document GmxQRGvjQXg4D5egNkRoVwzBY

FILE NAME: Asbestos Cement Pipe and Sheet (ACPS) DATE: DOC#: ACPS0 KhMENT DESCRIPTION: Letter from The Center for Science in the Public Interest to the EPA - Request to Ban Asbestos-Cement Pipe in Water Systems - (202) 332-6000 17-;-9 Cln rch ~tr,d, N.W. Wa~.1ti,1,J0:1, I_>.C. ~0036 Deccr.:bcr 10, 1973 REQUEST TO BAN ASBESTOS CEMENT Pif'E FOR l 1SE r:; 1:ATER sr::.-TEMS The H:::,1Lor2ble Ri.:ssell Train EnvirornnentJ.l Protection Agency 401 M Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. Dear Mr. Train: We at the Center for Science in the P1;blic Int0Test have been quite concerned about community a:r.d occupat:ional expos~ires to isbcstos. This past February we presented testimony before thE., Sc1:ate Cca::,erce Cc,cmi ttee' s Environment Subcmr.r:dttee, and issued a lcrigthy n'p0rt calling for a broad range of actions to protect the public from asbestos hazards. Since tlien we have communicated with mwcrous officials in EPA in con:r.ection with the Agency's air pollution standard for asbestos and a l'urgeonii:g nur,,2er of water problems (st;mciards for new and existing p:Ji:it sou:-c.::::.;, drbkir.g water contamin2'.tion, the Reserve Mining Case in Duluth , ~r.d sc,,.~:r pipe deterioration). Of all these, qne problerr, sta:;d.s out as wa::.-r,rntin~ inmediate, obvious action: we must cease r,o.ar.ufactu:::-ing ascestos cement pipi: for use in potable water supply. Asbestos cement (A.C.) pipe has been used fo::: c~-;rying drinking 1-:ater in the United States since 1~38, and to<lc.y over ?VJ,OCO miks c:f Ar;.. 1,ater pipe serve U.S. conswners. \.;e estimate that about 8 per cent of U.S. asbestos consumption r.oes into cc:r,ent pipe. In do:;-.>stic pipe chrysotile and crocidoli te asbestos make up 15 to 20 per cent of pi.re hei:=::1t of hhich about one-fcurth (3-5%) is crocidolite.1,2 An ele6tron r1icroscope st~dy by the Johns-Hanville Corporation der:'onstrat,cd r1:coval of chrysotilc asbestos f:rom pipe walls by potable water in both ~erpen.tine Ulalv1:rn, Pa.) and non-serpentine (Glendale, Arizona) regions . .:i .\r:,;1:her :Tvr,ns.-;fanville electron rr.icroscope study derr,onstrated addition of ":=tshestos 11 :o potable 1,ater over a range of water h~ffdness, in a test li1:0 30 feet in length. 4 S2.rgent, using optical raicroscopy, found an incre:,1se in tt2.sbc~;tos" fiber ccunt in water systems in Vermont, where A.C. p3p2 is widely used. 1 Selikoff recently suggested that croci<lolite in ,,:;i,:(;r can be i1s,A as an indo::::~ of conta- mination by A.C. pipe, since there is nq backgrouf!d level of thi_;; type of asbestos anywhere in the United States. 5 In a letter this April to R.egio;wl \;.:ter Surly Rc~}rcsenL,tives, James McDermott, Director of EPA's W~ter St,pply Division, ac:knowleur;ed that, (202) 332-6' 000 CENTER FO'.l SCIENCE fN T}lE PUDUC INTEREST 1779 Churd1 Street, N.W. \Vashington, D.C. 20036 Request to Ban Asbestos Cement Pipe from Water Systems Page 2 "asbestos fibers :rnd fibrils are contributed to drinking ,.,;ater during p2ssage through asbestos-ceir.ent pipe, 11 but m.:i.de no explicit recoru:1endation against the continued use of A.C. pipe. 6 In a report issued publicly in Fchruary, 197~, we called for p-r.ohi- . bi tion of A.C. pipe use in \;ater supply syste:r.s.' In response to an inquiry by Dr. Ervin Bellack of EPA's ~ater Supply Division, we gave reasons for our stand: 1. A.C. pipe contamination of drinking water froB erosion and maintenance may present a r.iaj or hazard to the general public; 2. Utilities workers who drill and cut A.C. pipe for maintenance purposes are exposed to airborne asbestos dust and p~esumably some increased risk of cancer; and 3. Substitute, interials with better physil:al properties (e.g. cast iron, prcstrcssed concrete) have been in use for ye::irs. Although these substitutes have higher initial cost, they have better strength and 101:er rates of failure. And of course,there is less hazard in the ~anufacture, handling and end use of substitutes for asbestos pipe. As Dr. Sclikoff of P~unt Sinai and Dr. Nagoner of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health have recently testified in the Duluth case, there is a~ple reason to believe that ingestion of the major vari&ties of asbestos leads to increased risk of gastrointestinal cancer. Environr.:entalists have been accused of sometimes having a na:-row approach to probleras, neglecting to consider the impact on the workers and com:rnunities where A.C. pipe plants, for example, are operating. We think it appropriate, therefore, to briefly discuss occupational disease a~ong A.C. pipe workers. Enterline and Hcr.dersoF.- in Pi t-.:.sburgh have just published a study in ;-;hich men who worked in plants rr.anufacturing asbestos cer.:cnt pipe had a respiratory cancer incidence 6.1 times the expected rate. We are only beginning to see the disastrous cffoe ts of this mixed chrysoti 1,e/crocidol i te exposure, since it was possible to follow these workers for only an average of 32 yeais from the onset of exposure. Lap.scd periods for asbestos c.:lr.cers 2.rc often 40 yecn-s or more. Enterline, 1;ho has been active in asbestos epidemiology for a m::r,ber of years, ,,:as obviously shocked by the disparity in his study between the A. C. pipe \:orkcrs c:nc 1,.en 1,ho mam::f:actured A. C. shingles co11taining only Chr)'sotile (respiratory cancer risk 1.4 times tl1e expected). He called for the . elimination of crocicioli te exposures v:herever possible, citing a similar s tatemcnt by \'!agner, an eminent pathologj st in the field of asbestos cancer. 2 ' 8 (202) 332-6000 CENTER FO~ SCffl\iCE r:i 'TI-IE rum~rc fNTEP..EST 177') Church Street, N.'~. Wash;n:-:ton, .D.C. 20036 Request to Ban Asbestos Cement Pipe from Kater Systems F2.ge 3 In addition to occupational disease, the air poliucion ;rnd open ch:.11ps of 2.sbestos plants hav:: becc;-:ie notorions for c2.using neighborhood cu.ses of r,.esothclioiI'2., just as -;:.he dust on wor1',11cn 1 s clothes has c2.used de2.ths of fard.ly !ilenbers. These trs.r,edies are discussed at length in ou-:: report. 7 Asbestos ccnent pipe has bee!l in use here for only 35 yc.ns,m~:~ t:nless its disease significance is massive, we will not see statistically sign1fic~nt effects for quite so~e time, if at all. Regional cancer trends and asbestos levels in water systems descTve intensive study, as quite a few researchers at the recent Kational Institute of Environ~ental Health Sciences Conference in Durham pointed out. But the proble111 -of lilY'.i ti1:g the public I s exposure to asbestos calls for immediate action. l\'e hope you wi 11 gi vc this matter ) 01~r urgent consideration, and take proffi?t action to eliminate the use of asbestos cement pipe for drinking water supply. Sincerely yours, V /? _..,,.;7,,-/ V ,:.'c:,-1.,,,-!.,...: I L,d..-,::z.-,-CCr;:;~,,,;--:V 1i Barryiastleman, M.S.E~ oJX--tJ- ~ < f J>--v~ Albert Fritsch, Ph.D. cc. Senator He.rt / Sena~or t,iuskie Senator Nelson Senator ~13.thias Congressr:',J.n Rogers Congress;;::m Annunzio (202) 33:2.(;000 177') Chu::lt ~~'.rlct, f\.W. Wa.shinct,,n, D.C. 20J36 REFERENCES 1. S2.:rgc;it, r~.E. "A!:',bcstos in Drinking Kater", a paper presented at New Engl2.nd 1:2i:cr ;forks ,\_:;sociation f<ceting, Northfield, Ver.;-.ont, May 17, 1973, 16 pp. 2. Entcrlir,c, P.E. ar.ci V. HcnJerson, "Type of ..\sbcstos and i:_espi:rato:ry C,:mccr ir. the .~s;,cstc,s I:,dG.stry", ,\rch. Environ. Hea.lth ~' 312, 1.073. 3. Bu.rns, A.F., "Ch:cysctile Fiber levels in Mu:1icipal 1;3.ter Systems"; Johns-Manville Rcsc&rch and Engi~ccring Center Report 404-79, June 4, 1971, 8 pp. 4. 11Transi:-s Pipe Test Linc-Determi:r.otion of Asbestos Fiber in 1fater", Johns<1~,n.vil :e Research 2.nd Engineering Center Repcrt 42S-T-1360, Septe~b~r 29, 1971, 14 pp. 5. Selikoff, I .J. Discussion in Conference, "Biological Effects of Ingested /-sccstos", '.\'~t ional Ins ti tut es of Envi ronnental llea.ltr: Scier-.ces, DurhaD, F0\'r::L-.'.::cr 19, 1973. 6. McDen-:ott ,. J. I-l. "Asbestos in Water", April 24, 1973. 7. Castlc~an, B.I. and A.J. Fritsch, Asbestos and You, Center fer Science in the Public Interest, l\'2shington, 1973, 66 pp. 8. h'~gncr, J.C. et al. "Epidemiology of Asbestos Cancers", Br. Med. Bull. '!:]_, 71, 1971.