Document LKjNq67zKQmnVRyzaNyEOVXYd

FILE NAME: Drywall Spackling Compounds (DWSC) DATE: 1979 DOC#: DWSC078 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Correspondence from Medical Journal jrt-trm te n s for .rcinogcns. Sr. J. sltnd. K. Pal and A. of beniofaipyren* slur 252.326-328 C. Lautz and H. V. ; diol-epoxidat: anon and optically e 156.1199-1201 V. Akiyama and Y. .mical constituents ty of cigarette smoke 326(1977). T. J. Knaip and F. organic fractions of . Presented at the is Particles in the t. 1978. Berkeley, rief communication: syed in Selmonella t t Inst 58:449-451 end H. Watanaba: yphimurium mutants ic matter derived from and its five fractions. )- n and T. M . Mischke: ne paniculate organic i-70 (1977). \. A. Hardigree. T. K. jin, C.-H. H o e n d B .R . gical analyses of test ic fuel technologies. I. s determined by the microsomal activation :76 (1978). mas: Concentration of Isorption with the nonaretto sm okers have Vaf7. ActS. Sei. USA l. W ynder: Organic chemical analysis and ty In. Air Pellutian, 3rd i. Academic Press. New 77). Fowler. L. Friberg. N. ollution and cancer: Risk ,y and epidemiological Pert. 22.1-75(1978). *. J M September. 1*7 Comments . . . It T h e article, " d r y w a ll c o n st ru c t io n a n d a s b e s t o s e x p o s u r e ". (Am. Ind. Hyg. A ss o c . J. 4 0 .4 0 2 -4 0 7 1979) authored by Alf Fischbein, M.D.. A.N. Rohl, Ph.D.. A.M . Langer, Ph.D. andl.J. Selikoff, M.D. of the i Mt. S in a i Sch o ol of M edicine, City University of N e w York. N e w York, NY prompted the following f comment. The authors' reply is published at the conclusion of the comment. Sii t< I read this paper with interest, since correlation diagnosed as asbestosis - only that i of exposure with medical findings is the "abnormalities" were found. Were these cornerstone of meaningful standards for disease diagnoses made? And what was the i I evaluations. Unfortunately, a number of prevalence of diagnosed absestosts? fundamental questions were not addressed in the Until these questions are answered, I do not i paper, and I hope they may be answered think that the conclusion can be drawn from } eventually. these studies that "asbestos disease . . . is an 1. The study reports on the various mineral important hazard in this trade." Rather, the data ? components of 15 taping and spackling in this study could lead to the conclusions that compounds, but does not identify the drywall tapers have exposures to asbestos less com position of the com pound or than OSHA standards, and that their lung compounds used during the air sampling. abnormalities are attributable to smoking, 2. The paper states that "During pole urban living, and age. sanding, 7 out of 10 samples exceeded the I feel you owe it to your readers to get the then existing threshold limit value (TLV) authors to resubmit their paper, giving data of 5 fibers/cm' longer than 5 pm." No from which valid conclusions can be drawn. time data is given, so that it must be George J. Krefcisin assumed that these are time weighted Vice President. Health Services average exposures. Are they? If not, what was the duration of the samples? N A T L S C O / N a tio n a !L o ss Control Service Corp. Long Grove. IL 6 00 4 9 If the actual time spent sanding is 5-10%, as stated in Work Procedures, the actual time weighted average exposures may be only one tenth of the means reported. Similarly, if mixing takes 90 seconds, the Author's reply . . . peak exposures measured may be 5.9 f/cc measured over the 15 minute period specified by current OSHA standards, rather than 59 f/cc. 3. Table II refers to distances (e.g., "Pole Sanding (3-5 ft.." Are these distances to . locations of samples? From where? 4 The Table VII referred to on Page 407 is missing. 5. In the Discussion, the authors state "the prevalence of asbestosis in this population of drywall tapers is similar to that found by others among asbestos insulation workers." The paper does not state elsewhere that any of the findings were Thank you for sending us a copy of the lette from Mr. George Krafcisin of the National Los Control Service Corporation. The following ar responses to his numbered comments. 1. Table 1 indicates that all taping an spackling compounds analyzed containe asbestos, ranging from 5 to 12 percent b weight. Thus, all compounds used dunn the air sampling had been analyzed an found to contain one or moie types i asbestos. 2. The concentrations noted refer m mo cases to peakconcentraimns; the dura tic hntricM lodinitial Hu* Auaciibsn JOURNAL (40) S/71 l: ...X COMMENTS. . . of sampling ranged from 3 to 15 minutes within an average of 8 minutes. 3. The distances refer to the distance between air sampler (breathing zone) and dust source (end of pole). 4. Printer's error. 5. The roentgenographic abnormalities are summarized in Tables V and VI. As indicated, the chest films were read according to the ILO U/C International C lassification of Radiographs of Pneumoconioses. The criteria for an abnormal x-ray were those of the ILO Classification and are given in Table V (> 1/0, i.e. the presence of small irregular opacities). Thus, the "abnormalities" refer to radiological abnormalities diagnosed as pneumoconiosis. In general, radiologic signs of asbestosis are quite characteristic and are the common basis upon which a diagnosis is made. Other evidence may be provided by pulmonary function tests, and correlations with lifetime occupa tional history are additionally useful. Nevertheless, roentgenographic abnor malities are a keystone of diagnosis. Tissue analyses, which require invasive procedures, are inappropriate for investigative surveys. Our identification of a very high prevalence (41%) of x-ray abnormalities in a group of asbestos-exposed tapers is clear evidence of a health hazard which existed in this trade. Rather than resubmitting our paper, we would urge Mr. Krafcisin as Vice President of the health services of a Service C orporation to review the significance of radiographic interpretation of pneumoconiosis. Perhaps it is the incomplete appreciation of such knowledge, and of the natural history of asbestos-related diseases, which permit Mr. Krafcisin to attribute occupationally induced disease to "smoking, urban living, and age." Such inadequacies can prove a serious obstacle to efforts to improve the health and safety of the American Worker. Alt Fischbein, M .D . Authur N. Rohl, Ph.O. Arthur M. Longer. Ph.O. Irving J. SetikoH, M .O . The Mt. S in a i M e dical Center City University of N e w York N e w York. N Y 10029 Editor' not: The printer's error cited in item 4 ot the authors' reply was. in actuality, a faithful reproduction of copy included in the final revised manuscript submitted for publication. There w as a Table VII in the original draft When the manuscript was revised at the suggestion of the reviewer, Table VII w as deleted, but the reference to it was not. This inconsistency w as missed in the second review and in proofing by the authors and AIHAJ. Low level radiation hazards . . . Recent studies, including ours, have shown that the health hazards of low-level ionizing radiation have been seriously underestimated. We should try to avoid making the same mistakes with the health effects of non-ionizing radiation. If there is one lesson that carries over from ionizing to non-ionizing radiation it is this: The hazards are not in the hardware itself but in the way the hardware is used. Lab tests of x-ray equipment can be very reassuring but it is a false reassurance. It is when the equipm ent is deployed in the field that the troubles appear. In their report on"Electromagnetic Radiation Emitted from Video Computer Terminals" (April, 1979), Weiss and Petersen find low radiation levels in their laboratory tests. What they have shown is that they can monitor over the entire spectrum and this is an important step in the right direction. Now they must do in-use or equipment failure experiments to deal with the health problem. We are moving into a deployment of terminals where millions of clerks and other employees will be sitting in front of these video terminals day after day, year after year. Some of this UO An. M . Hyt Assoc. J (40) September, I97S