Document MJz9Y8ZkRX0ZnonoB0RG7GVZy

Target Health Hazards Asbestos: Airborne Danger by ganoy L. Stlion Two thousand years ago when the first use of asbestos was recorded, it was a sacred object, a curiosity of.kings and nobles, a magic mineral. The Greeks, who used asbestos for the wicks of their temple lamps, were enthralled when fames did not consume it, but burned unceasingly. Amazed, they called; it cubesta, which meant the "unquenchable," the `inextinguishable." Now that asbestos has been integrated into our industrial world--from fireproof drapery and floor tiles to the corrugated steel used in heavy con. struction--the term used by the Greeks has been found to apply to another attribute of this min. era!. No cure now exists for the diseases caused by inhaling asbestos fibers: once established, these disorders, too, have so far proved to be inextinguishable. In the last few years, asbestos has been recog nized as one of the most hazardous of air con taminants in the workplace. Employees exposed to asbestos include an estimated 100,000 insulation workers, 60,000 workers in manufacturing prod ucts, 60,000 using end products, and uncounted thousands in construction. Labor unions have Kill StUm it M* autotant titter 0/ Sum Stairmbds. 2 pushed for stricter standards governing its usage, and the Occupational Safety and Health Adminis tration has listed it os one of five target health haz ards in a new program aimed to crack down or health hazards in the workplace. Recent studies, such as those conducted by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the National Research Council, have produced some disturbing statistics on the mortality rates of workers using asbestos. Dr. Irving J. Selikoff of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine discussed the implications of these studies: "At present, one in every five deaths among insulation workers is due to lung cancer, one in ten to cancer of the pleura or peritoneum, one in ten to scarred lungs of asbestosis." Since insulation workers receive relatively light expo sures to asbestos compared to some other occupa tional groups, these results are even more sombre. What disturbs researchers about diseases linked to asbestos is that many cases they are presently en countering result from exposures dating back to the 1930's, when asbestos was not used as exten sively as it is today. Thirty years ago world pro* duction was approximately 50,000 tons annually; today it has skyrocketed to 3 million tons. Hie effects of exposures occuring in the 1970's probably 8004;1060