Document NEay4V1EpyvmEbMgXoLO7n44D

PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT A U +* t L* ^ V'W ' OSHA WARNS THAT DRY - WALL SPACKLING CONTAINS DANGEROUS ASOESTOS HAZARD GP-1563 . $ergot r ' The Labor CX:par:mcn: learns :hs: many speckling and raping- compounds used by home '. builders ro cover scams in dry-wall joints conrain asbesros r'ibers beyond OSHA asbesros health standard limits. Ic alerts industry and labor ro this new-found source of hazardous exposure ro asbestos fibers. ... Employees sanding these speckling and raping joints smooth before painting may expose' ' ' ' themselves to three to 13.7 asbesros iibers per cubic centimeters of air, the Department says, OSHA's asbestos health standard limits employee o'-pv - re r: five f.'h*.:;s per c. ............. on an eight-hour time weigutcu average. . OSHA was alerted to the new hazard by Dr. Marcus M. Key, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, NIOSH is OSHA's research arm. Key said an examination of 17 members of Painters Local 1974, New York City, con- ' ducted by Dr. Irving J. Seiikoff, director of the Me. SLnai School of Medicine of the City University of New York, revealed chat the lungs of nine of 17 workers examined showed positive ' X-ray evidence of fibrosis. Fibrosis is a condition marked bv a relative increase of fibers in any- Internal organ. Although Seiikoff cautioned that conclusions cannonVcTlra-wn'irofVi'such new data, they suggest that a serious health hazard may exist among home builders because lung ..cancer, which often follows fibrosis, seldom develops in fewer than 20 years of exposure. Assistant Secretary of Labor John H. Stenrier cautions that many employers ar.d cm-- ployecs, particularly in the home-building industry, maybe exposed to unacceptable levels ' v of chrysotilc asbestos. The OSHA field staff in more than 100 offices nationwide, and ail . states with OSHA-approved job safety and health plans, have been notified of the new source '; . of asbesros exposure. Trade associations, other employers groups, unions, and repre- ` sentatives of the construction Industry are being asked to join the effort to alert all employers and employees to the potential hazard and of the need to comply with OSHA's asbestos standard . to assure employee protection. `: Asbestos is one of the five toxic substances (the others are carbon monoxide, lead. - ' -jl'l-W. v . ; ; j- r!:' I j. t 11'i. ' t'- ' .AP* 2 3 1S74 SGP 0007470