Document L0ZKKooxE9G5q7bXDVQRZ127

bcc: R.E. Byrne, Jr. R.F.X. Fusaro O.V. Murray R.L. Schult W.C. Thurber UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION - MINING & METALS DIVISION P.O. BOX 579 NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y. 14302 TEL: 716-273-3376 October 27, 1975 Mr. Robert W. Flugge Deputy Commissioner Department of Environmental Quality 95 Franklin Street Buffalo, NY 14202 Dear Mr. Flugge: Per our telecon this date enclosed are the attachments which were referenced in my letter to you dated October 23, 1975, but which were inadvertently omitted from the mailing. I hope this has caused you no inconvenience, please accept my apologies. Very truly yours JLM/ejp Enc. cc: Dr. H.B. Rhodes Marketing Manager UCC 014236 A 08 78 9 7 77* 77 * Tiul3. J9S3JSST0S UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION MINING & METALS DIVISION THE DISCOVERY COMPANY P.O. BOX 579 * NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y. 14302 October 23, 1975 TEL 716-273-3376 Mr. Robert W. Flugge Deputy Commissioner Department of Environmental Quality 95 Franklin Street Buffalo, NY 14202 Dear Mr. Flugge: . This letter and attachments provide the technical supporting information on the spraying of asbestos-containing materials which was mentioned in my comments present ed on September 25, 1975, copy enclosed. These comments were directed to the pro posed Erie County Air Quality Code, Article 111, Title 9, Section B, on Asbestos. The spraying of asbestos has received substantial publicity as a health hazard, primarily as a result of the extensive use of sprayed-on asbestos as a fire proof ing and insulation material. Industry recognized that this practice, which involved materials containing 10 to 80% asbestos and little or no permanent binder, was hazardous; and, accordingly, it has been discontinued. However, it is our firm belief that various materials containing small quantities of asbestos can be applied safely by spraying with no significant hazard either to the worker or the general public, and further that such spraying can be done in total compliance with the Federal OSHA Health Standard dealing with asbestos and the EPA National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants. The subject applications generally involve the spray ing of paints and coatings where asbestos is a minor but important constituent added to give critical properties to the material. These coatings are applied wet as a slurry or liquid thus precluding the generation of airborne asbestos dust in excess of accepted Federal threshold limits. Our data wer.eobtained at commercial locations under routine operating conditions. Samples were collected in the breathing zone of the operator during active spraying procedures and do not include breaks, lunch, and similar non-working conditions. The results thus represent the highest exposure level for each particular operation and the time-weighted average (TWA) during an eight hour shift would be much lower. Environmental exposures outside the work area would be even lower than the TWA due to dilution by other air. All samples were collected on millipore filters and counted at 400x using phase contrast illumination in accordance with Federal OSHA regula tions. The data were obtained at 21 different industrial locations throughout the United States. These or very similar operations are probably practiced to some extent in Erie County. For convenience, the data are divided into four catergories based on the char acteristics of the binder, and are presented in this manner in Tables 1 through IV . Details of the type and quantity of binder, the main uses, and the asbestos content are supplied with each category. An overall summary is shown below: UCC 014237 A0879C SUMMARY AIRBORNE ASBESTOS FIBER CONCENTRATIONS VARIOUS INDUSTRIAL SPRAYING OPERATIONS Application Wall and Ceiling Interior Texture Spray* Exterior Hall and Roof Sprays Resin-Based Coating* (Boat nfg.a ship coating. Building maintenance coatings) Asphaltic Roof and Auto Under coating Binder Type Staech, PVA, Casein etc. Vinyl & Acrylic latex Polyester & Epoxy Resin* X as Sprayed 2-4 Asbestos t-as Sprayed 1-5 10-20 4 max. 6-50 12 max. Locations Sampled 7 2 9 Asphaltic 45 15 max. 3 21 No. of Samoles 24 5 19 B 56 - Airborne Asbestos fiber Concentration (Fibers/cO^i Range Averaoe 0.0-1.6 0.6 0.0-0.2 0.1 0.0-0.6 0.2 0.03-1.5 0 -1.6 0.3 0.4 It is noteworthy that the highest value found was 1.6 fibers/cc>5 jti and only three out of the ,56 samples gave readings higher than 1 fiber/cc. In the three highest cases other values for the same operation were below 1 fiber/cc. The overall average was 0.4 fiber/cc in the breathing zone of the operator performing the spraying. On this basis we feel that the proposed Erie County ban on the spraying of asbestos or asbestos-containing materials is overly restrictive. In view of this the alternative wording in my presentation is proposed: "No person shall cause, suffer, permit, or allow visible emissions of asbestos dust from spraying of asbestos-containing materials used for fireproofing and insulation." Another alternative would be to modify your wording to exempt certain materials based on our supporting data, as follows: - "No person shall cause, suffer, permit, or allow surface coating by the spraying of asbestos or asbestos-containing materials, with the exception of water, resin, and asphaltic-based coating and laminating materials applied for decorative and/or maintenance purposes containing, as sprayed, an amount of binder not less than 50% of the weight of the asbestos present and a maximum of 15% by weight of asbestos." We appreciate the opportunity to comment on your proposed rule-making. Please contact Dr. Rhodes or me if we can be of any assistance in the final development of your standard, or if you require additional information. y truly yours, JLM/ejp cc: Dr. H.B. Rhodes bcc: R.E. Byrne, Jr. R.F.X. Fusaro J.V. Murray R.L. Schult W.C. Thurber - UCC 014238 A08791 PRESENTATION TO ERIE COUNTY AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DIVISION September 25, 1975 , My name is John L. Myers. I am Marketing Manager for Union Carbide's asbestos products with offices in Niagara Falls, N.Y. I have been involved with Union Carbide's asbestos business since 1966; and, since 1972 when the OSHA (Occupa tional Safety and Health Administration-Department of Labor) asbestos standards were published, I have also been heavily involved with federal, state, and local regulatory activities concerning asbestos. We presented testimony at the OSHA hearings on the asbestos standard in 1972; and I served as an industry representative on a committee to develop the federal EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) asbestos standards, which were promulgated in 1973. Asbestos standards are now being developed especially for the construction industry and I attended and presented testimony at a two-day hearing in Washington last week. With me tonight is Dr. H.B. Rhodes, my Technology Manager. One of his main responsibilities is to supervise the air monitoring service which we offer to our customers. Dr. Rhodes is chairman-elect of the technical sub-committee of the Asbestos Information Association and is also actively engaged in the asbestos/health question and regulatory activities. He attended a symposium in England last week on asbestos and health and is preparing an article for publica tion on the health hazards of asbestos in certain segments of the construction industry. His training in air sampling and analysis was obtained at special courses offered by NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and HealthDepartment of Health, Education and Welfare). Dr. Rhodes has also performed extensive air sampling in connection with the use of asbestos in various compounds UCC 014239 A 08792 2- - which are sprayed on surfaces. This was done to substantiate our position that relatively low levels of asbestos can be used in many products which, upon spray ing, do not cause any significant amount of asbestos dust. At your discretion, we can send this supporting information to you in the next several days. Union Carbide-is engaged in the mining and milling of asbestos fibers at its plant in California, and we market asbestos fibers throughout the world. We supply asbestos as a raw material to compounders or manufacturers of various products, some of which are sprayed. We do not supply asbestos for use in spray fireproofing or insulation materials; and, in fact, neither does anyone else. Asbestos has essentially been eliminated from such products because of the attendant potential hazard to workers and the general public. Our interest in regulatory actions is to prevent ambiguity and to avoid the promulgation of standards which are difficult or impossible to enforce because of their generality. We want to assist in the development of standards which eliminate or minimize asbestos exposure, but which do not effect an unnecessary prohibition against the general use of asbestos, especially in products which present no ultimate hazard to the general public. Following are some excerpted quotes from a 1971 report of the National Research Council: "At present, there is no evidence that the small numbers of fibers found in most members of the general population affect health or longevity-----Asbestos is too important in our technology and economy for its essential use to be stopped___ Continued use at minimal risk to the public requires that the major sources of man-made asbestos emission into the atmosphere be defined and controlled." I think you would agree that these comments are closely aligned with mine. It is my understanding that you are considering legislation with the following wording: "No person shall cause, suffer, permit, or allow surface coating by the spraying of asbestos or asbestos-containing materials." The spraying of asbestoscontaining materials has received substantial publicity as a health hazard, UCC 014240 A08793 -3- primarily as the result of the extensive use of sprayed products for fireproofing and insulation. Industry, government, and health groups have recognized that this practice, which involved materials containing up to 80% asbestos with little or no permanent binder, was hazardous; and it has been discontinued. However, it is our belief, supported by the data previously discussed, that materials contain ing relatively small quantities of asbestos and suitable binders can be sprayed safely and in compliance with existing federal standards. We are strongly in favor of legislation which would prohihit the spraying of asbestos-containing materials for fireproofing and insulation which generate visible dust emissions hazardous to the public environment. However, the wording which you have proposed would inadvertently, prohibit the spraying of asbestoscontaining materials even though they generate no asbestos dust. These applica tions would include automobile undercoating, roof coating, textured paints, airplane de-icing, and many others which would adversely affect activities involving thousands of jobs in Erie County. We therefore propose the following revised wording for your legislation: "No person shall cause, suffer, permit, or allow visible emissions of asbestos dust from the spraying of asbestos-containing materials used for fireproofing and insulation." We are confident that the above wording will accomplish your purpose, and ours; and that the safety and health of the general public will not be compromised or impaired by this revision. Thank you for your time and attention. John L. Myers Union Carbide Corporation Metals Division UCC 014241 A08794 I. Water-Based Systems with Water-Soluble Binders Binders: Type: Starch, polyvinyl alcohol, soya protein, or equivalent. Content: Typically 6-82 by weight of the dry formulation before mixing with water, 2-42 as sprayed. Main Uses: Interior wall and ceiling texture sprays. (Where texture is applied to walls it must be covered with at least one coat of a latex or oil-based paint.) Asbestos Content: Up to 32 by weight of the total formulation as sprayed. Supporting Data: Table I. UCC 014242 A0879b TABLE 1 HATER-BASED STSTEMS WITH HATER-SOLUBLE BINDERS Sanftl* Designation Coorwclal Application I - INTERIOR TEXTURE SPRATS 12 Celling spray. 82 3 Hill spray. ft 35 Date S/14/73 ft ft ft 38 2B SB 131 102 ` Celling spray. n Hall spray. . - N-3 N-2 K-2 1-25 Celling spray. ft Hall spray. ft 10/3/74 a a Z-49 Z-S4 Celling spray. ft 12/4/73 ft Binder Appro*-^ liete Ht. S Asbestos Spray Gun Type Operation Sample Tine Wn.) Asbestos Airborne Concentration {Fibers/cc >5J Soya protein. ft Starch. ft a a 2 Air supported 2 ft 2 ft 2' ft 1a 1a 1a 2 2a 1 1 ft 2.5 2.5 1 1a Operator applying celling spray to condominiun apts. Operator wiping walls after celling spray. Operator applying wall spray to condomlnlun apts. Operator carrying hose during wall spraying. Operator spraying celling of condominium. - ft ft Operator spraying walls of condominium. ft 71 68 51 34 14 15 15 ?T 12 Operator applying celling spray to home. Operator "wiping* walls after celling spray. Operator applying wall spray to home. Full coverage. Operator spraying glitter, Imnedlately after ceiling sprayed. 19 22 24 26 Operator applying celling spray to condominium apts. Operator "wiping* walls after celling spray. 20 24 0.1 0.1 0.3. 0.8 0.1 0.5 0.8 0.6 1.6 1.1 0.5 0.2 0.07 0.0 0.5 0.1 ^ Based on total foixulatlon as sprayed. UCC 014243 A087S6 II. Water-Based Systems with Latex Binders Binders: Type: Vinyl latex, acrylic latex, vinyl-acrylic latex, or equivalent. Content: Polymer content of 10-20% by weight as sprayed. Main Uses: Exterior coatings for buildings and mobil homes, including roofs. Asbestos Range: Up to 4% by weight of the total formulation as sprayed. Supporting Data: Table II. UCC 014244 A08 797 TABU IE WATER-BASED SYSTEMS WITH LATEX BINDERS SlBpI* D*3t ante ton Conmrd*) Application i exterior coatings H-* Wall and Koof Spf*% J-J it C-l H R**3 Roof spray* Bata 10/A/7A II II 9/30/7* STnder Vinyl latex. II Acrylic latax Acrylic latax. a-*S it I* ii Appro*iMtC Wt. 1 Asbestos Spray Cun Tvoa 3.7 2.1 0 0.7 . 0.7 Alr supported. i* it Airies*. 11 Operation SaavU Tint (Hln.) Airborne Asbestos Concentration {f ibers/ccJv*! Operator spraying vertical wall panel ii ii IS 12 1 Oparator spraying dttmward onto a large roof. M 28 It 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.0 * (I) Based on total formulation as iprayd. UCC 014245 a08798 III. Resin-Based Systems Binders: Type: Polyester resins, alkyd resins, epoxy resin alone or in combination with coal tar or equivalent resin. Content: Range from*6% in zinc-rich primer to-*49% for heavily filled alkyd to 99+ for polyester laminating resins. Main Uses: Fiber glass reinforced boats, pipes, shower stalls, and similar articles. Maintenance coatings for steel and concrete. Intumescent and zinc-rich paint. Exterior alkyd paints. Asbestos Range: Up to 12% by weight of the total formulation as sprayed. Supporting Data: Table III. UCC 014246 A08799 TABU III SF51H-6ASEP SYSTEMS Smp? Owlqnatlon Coenerclal Aooltcatlon Date ' I - POLTESTER RESINS A. General Purpose Umfnatfno Resins 69 Boat manufacture. 12/7/72 Binder General purpose laminating resin. 1-13 10/31/74 M B-2S H-30 9 9 9 N-34 H-40 . 1-12 9 9' P 10/8/74 9 P .9 9 Approx-^ Imate Wt, t Asbestos Sprav Gun Type Ooeratlon Sample Time thin.) Asbestos Airborne Concentration (Flbers'cc >5,4 0.5 Air-supported Operator spraying Chopper. molds with resin 6 chopped glass. 24 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 9 9 9 9 9 P Operator spraying resin 6 c-iopped fiber glass. (Includes roll-out time.) Operator spraying resin A chopped fiber glass. Operator spraying resfn t chopped fiber glass. Operator spraying old with resin. (Ko glass.) P 4 IS 5 4 55 53 35 O.S 0.1 0.4 0.4 0 0.03 0.1 B. Chemical Resistant Res-Ins J-21 Fiber-glass pipe 8/13/74 manufacture. H-26 9 9 Chemical resistant resin. . 9 1.4 Airless. 1.4 9 Operator adjacent to automatic spray Machine coating 28' mandrels. Operator wiping mandrels. In area near spraying. 23 0.1 14 0.4 J-5 Ship coating. 10/3/74 Chemical 0.7 Air-supported Roll-out nan. In 65 0.4 resistant wand. spraying area about resin + chopped 1/4 of time. fiber glass. J-7 999 0.7 Operator spraying Ship hull in dry dock. 41 0.4 H-28 9 99 0.7 P 23 0 ^ Based on total formulation as sprayed. UCC 014247 A088QC TABLE 111 (continued) RESIH BASED SYSTEMS Sample Deslcnation Cotmrcial Aoollcaticn II * EPOVf RESINS A. Filled Epoxy K-S Ship coating. K-10 N-10 1-27 J-1 Date 10/2/74 El Binder Approx-^ Inata tft. 1 Asbestos Spray Cun Type Epoxy primer. B High build epoxy. m m .1.5 1.5 0 Airless. Air supported- 0. 0 m m Operation Operator spraying outside A under a Ship. M Operator spraying side of ship from scaffold. a Sa^le Time [mit.l Asbestos Airborne ^Concentrator 33 0.2 8 0.2 31 0.1 14 0.3 60 0.03 3. Epoxy - Coal Tar 14-45 Coating dry dock. 10/1/74 K-1 . K-3 Coating pipe M Interiors. Epoxy Coal-tar, solvent. IS 1 1 1 III - ALICYD RESIN PAINT H-7 ' Painting 10/6/74 building exterior. H-35 * Alkyd resin. 1Z 12 Airless. Air-supported wand. Operator spraying side of dry dock from suspended platform. Operator spraying side of dry dock from fixed scaffold. Operator spraying interior of 3", 6" and 12* diameter pipe. Airless gun. Operator spraying building exterior well. a 11 33 37 3 5 0.2 0 0.1 0 0.06 (D Sued on total formulation as sprayed. UCC 014248 A08801 r IV. Asphaltic and Coal-Tar Based Systems Binders: Type: Cutback and emulsified asphalt and coal-tar materials or equivalent. Content: Typically^45%. Main Uses: Automotive undercoating and sound deadener, roof coatings, foundation coatings. Asbestos Content: Up to-15%. Supporting Data: Table IV. / 408802 UCC 014249 k f 4 mu iv *3PHAtTIC AH8 COAL-TUB BASSO SYSTEMS Sl>p1 Identification N-62 H-31 1 1 J 3 * Comrelil Application Data Auto undercoat 1ng. 10/76 (Sound deadencr) II >1 rtbratad Roof Coating, 3/26/71 Under Cut back asphalt II U 10/11/76 la I* 9/26/76 ii M 10/11/76 ta tailslfted 12/18/74 asphalt fibrated roof coating. Steam refined, eaulslfled asphalt. ^ Based on total formulation as sprayed. t Approx-W laate Nt. I Asbestos IS Spray Gun Type Airless. 15 II 8 Al r st^ported , 8 II 8 Alrtess 8 II 3 Air supported 3 Airless doe rat ten Operator spraying on auto body. II Operator spraying against vertical staal aurfaca. n ii 1* la MM Operator spraying against vertical steel surface. * Seng) It Tina (Min.) 7 6 43 23 Alffeofni Asbcscos Concentration (Fibers/ccJ 0.2 1.5 o.oz 0,11 0.03 0.07 0.16 0.17 UCC 014250 ^08^03