Document MqMd2Lyy7vdKKaEadgpr490V

Asbestos use faces further restrictions million workers have been exposed since World War II. Much of the in terest in asbestos-related disease is Federal Alert-- generated by the high incidence of Although asbestos is one of the most asbestosis (a progressive lung fibro heavily regulated materials used in sis), lung cancer, and mesothelioma (a commerce today, some federal agen rare cancer of the lining of the chest cies maintain that it continues to be and abdomen) among workers ex a hazard and they are making a con posed to very high levels of asbestos certed effort to restrict its use even during the 1930's and 1940's. A par further. ticularly strong correlation is found The latest assault comes from the between lung cancer and asbestos National Institute for Occupational workers who smoke. Safety & Health. Disclosing the re Other actions were taken to reduce sults of a six-month study on work- exposure to asbestos in October, when place exposure to asbestos, NIOSH./ the Consumer Product Safety Corn- director Anthony Robbins has clM mission and the Environmental Pro- new regulations This listing cowers noteworthy regulations appearing in the Federal Register from March 18 to j April 18. Page numbers refer to those issues. -_ PROPOSED -. Environments! Protection Agency--Re- , quests comments on petition to classify ammonia and sulfide as conventional pollu tants rather than toxic pollutants; comments by June 2 (April 2, page 2165S). on the Labor Department's enforce-- , tection Agency both gave notice that ment arm, the Occupational Safety Se- J they intended to set new, tougher Health Administration, to lower the l rules for asbestos exposure to conworkplac&exposure standard foe as-J sumers and for the material's release Proposes standards governing testing re quired for data needed to register pesticide products: comments by June 16 (April 18. page 26373). bestos to O.Lfiber per ceof air fromSunto the environment, the currdaitstandaiti of2 fibets per c3 . CPSC ahready haa taken some Robbins says that many asbestos tiott by pnpoiiag last month to bur producers could meet this standard. . alr asoaetoa paper and-tape^rem, This levei of exposure waa choean >coiwnntag*'proqucta.\EPA ur still' rot because it was found to bi-ariafe, evaluating its data on the issue and Council on Environmental Qualify--Final revision to plans spelling out how federal agencies must respond to oil and hazardous < chemical spills: effective March 19 (March-1 19. page 17832). , 1 limit--indeed, the report-says there probably will not propose rules until can be no safe level of asbestos expo- the end of the year, sure--but becauseft is the-iowest* The need for tougher controls from level thatcan be measuredaccgratria^ CPSC, EPA, or OSHA, however, is OSHA head Eula Bingham says that. hotly disputed by industry. In its agency will begin working on the new comments regarding the proposed Environmental - Protection:- Agency--j Amends rules for disposal of PCB's, permits i disposal in landfills until March 1981, and j treats large and small PCB-containing ca-J pacitors the same: effective March 28 ` (March 28, page 20473). standard right away, though it may take six months before a proposed rule can be presented. Other recommendations in the NIOSH report call for a ban on all nonessential uses of asbestos and the use of substitutes wherever possible. rules, the Asbestos Information As sociation, a group sponsored by more than 50 asbestos producers, points out that evidence of disease in work ers who have inhaled high levels of asbestos provides scant insight into the effects on a population exposed to Establishes equipment standards that limit emissions of volatile organic compounds 1 from liquid-petroleum storage tanks: effec- j tive April 4 (April 4, page 23374). j Fixes time at which Clean Air Act regulations t will be considered promulgated to provide j fairness in responding to lawsuits; effective ' April 17 (April 17, page 26046). And the--report calls Tot'.prodocfc*D{oncentrations several orders of manufacturers to perform aamplihgX^hagTutude lower. ies to on th&H- prciducta-tQ-dfctefmme:^ ^rThe association also ciaim^ that Executive Order--Establishes Nuclear Safety Oversight Committee to advise on progress ol in,proving safety of nuclear what, if any, asbestos exposure cotddv:vCPSC and EPA have overstepped power and implement recommendations of result from;the product's Bsei " ' their authority in trying to propose About 1.4 million workers currently such wide-ranging rules on asbestos. President's Commission on Accident at Three Mile Island (March 20, page 17939). are being exposed to asbestos and According to the industry groups frothy Food ti Drug Administration--Revokes nearly 750,000 tons of the material are being used annually. An estimated 9 the toxic substances acts and consumarI that the' y_"man-in^he-plant'' policy under which a firm Plcan claim to be manufacturer of drug by " placing only quality control staff person in slant ofsubcontractor effective April 10" from asbestos before.: (April 15. page 25760). can. be. regulated. _ . do not show International Trade Administration--Policy denying licenses to export or re-export is such unreasonable risk; industry maintains that for many of the 3000 uses of asbestos i phosphate rock, phosphoric acid, or phos phate fertilizer to U.S.S.R.; effective Feb. 25 (April 10. page 24458). there are no acceptable substitutes, a contention challenged by both NOTICES NIOSH and EPA. National Institutes of Heallh--Physical Asbestos, refined from the natu rally occurring mineral, has been used extensively for more than 100 years. containment recommendations issued for large-scale use of organisms containing re combinant DNA (April 11, page 24968). Now, with so much confusion about how much asbestos can lead to dis ease, the widely publicized link to cancer may have given the kiss of National Oceanic & Atmospheric Admin istration--Announces availability of post doctoral grants of up to 335.000 yearly to colleges and universities for atmospheric, oceanic, and fisheries sciences: aoplications death to many asbestos uses--rightly by June 10 (April 16, page 25855). or wrongly. One thing is clear With so many regulations being foisted on Nuclear Regulatory Commission--Draft environmental assessment for decontami Bingham: work will begin right away asbestos this year, the industry is facing a rough road ahead. David. Hanson, Washington nation of Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor is available for comment (March 27, page 202S5). 15190354 f.'av 5. 1930 CZEN 19