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TheNew York Times - Friday, January 24, 1986 E.P.A. Proposes Plan to Curb tos^ By PHILIP SHABECOFF immediately banned, to alert users to Regulations like those in the program Special ro The Near York Tinea the dangers involved. proposed today were drafted two years WASHINGTON, Jan. 23--The Envi ronmental Protection Agency today proposed a long-range program to pro But agency officials noted that the ago. Promulgation of the regulations rule would permit exemptions tn the were delayed, however, in large part phasing-out process when inexpensive because of a variety of objections by tect the public from what it called "the serious health threat of asbestos." Five widely used asbestos products would be banned as soon as the rule set substitutes could not be found, in such cases, they said asbestos use could con ceivably be continued beyond the 10year period. the White House Office of Management and Budget. Lee M. Thomas, Administratorof the agency, said at a news conference to ting up the program went into effect. All other mining, processing, manufac turing and importing of asbestos would be gradually eliminated over 10 years. The proposed rule would immedi ately bar the use of asbestos roofing felts, asbestos flooring felts, vinyl as bestos floor tile, asbestos cement pipe day that the issues raised by the budget office had been resolved by the new proposal. Because of its heat and friction The new rule would not affect asbes tos products already in use. There would be no requirement that asbestos be removed from private or public buildings or vehicles. and fittings, and asbestos clothing. The agency said that the five products rep resented one-third to one-half of all as bestos production in the United States, which totaled 240,000 metric tons in 1984, down from a high of 875,000 tons in resistance and insulating properties, asbestos has long been widely used as a building material and in a broad range of industrial and consumer products. While information about the health risks of asbestos emerged as early as A number of asbestos products to 1973. 50 years ago, industry hid such infor which there is high public exposure, particularlybrake linings, would not be immediately banned because there is not yet an acceptable substitute, agency officials said. The proposal will now be subject to a 90-day comment period before publica tion of a final rule banning asbestos. It will be at least a year before the rule is put into effect. mation from the public. Government lawyers and others have charged. By the 1970's the dangers became well-documented. Workers and others exposed to airborne asbestos fibers de The proposed rule would require the labeling of ail asbestos products not The environmental agency first pro posed regulating asbestos in 1979 veloped lung cancer, an incurable form of cancer known as mesothelioma, as bestosis and other lung diseases and ill ness. Thousands of lawsuits have been brought against asbestos manufactur ers and the Government. Searching for Substitutes: Benefits Are Foreseen The E.P.A. currently estimates Industry Offering Choices there are from 3,300 to 12,000 deaths each year* from exposure to cancer. Mr. Thomas said that if the proposal were adopted, it would avoid 1,900 of these deaths between now and the end By STUART DIAMOND of the century. No material has yet been devel oped with the numerous proper ties of asbestos: resisting heat, providing strength and adding durability in more than 3,000 products for very little cost. But companies over the last few years have found a basket of sub stitutes. Each has a different property of asbestos; together they have most of the mineral's attributes. But the substitutes are usually more costly. "Asbestos is just perfect for so many uses," said Edmund A. Merriman, an engineer at E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. "There is no one material that can just be plugged into the hole you have left when you pull asbes tos out" The proposed Federal ban of as bestos yesterday came as no sur prise to the companies that handle it. The Government has been phasing out asbestos uses for years and domestic consumption has dropped by 75 percent from its 1973 peak of 880,000 tons. A few asbestos companies went out of business but most have di versified. "Companies knew 10 years ago they had to find substitues," said Barry I. Castleman, a Maryland consultant. ironic Properties The health hazards, including cancer, result from the same properties useful in commerce, experts said. Asbestos bonds well to many materials and it lasts a long time. It reinforces concrete in pipes and walls; resists heat in brake linings, gaskets and insula tion, prevents roofing shingles and floor tiles from losing their shape or cracking. forcement for tires and aircraft parts. It is stronger than steel by weight. Du Pont now also sells it for brake linings, automobile clutches, gaskets and thermal gloves. Kevlar and similar products are at least several times more costly chan asbestos. Du Pont also sells a fiber, called Nomex. that is used in place of asbestos in pro tective clothing and in filters to remove particles from hot indus trial gases. Hercules Inc. produces Pulpex, a synthetic pulp used to give fine wallpaper its rigidity and in teabag paper. Pulpex replaces asbes tos in vinyl flooring, textured paint and in cement to prevent cracking, said Terence W. Rave, a Hercules chemist. The ManviUe Corporation, once the world's largest asbestos pro ducer and closely identified with the fiber's demise, since 19S3 has developed substitutes for oven In sulation and rigid cement walls. The substitutes are a combination of fiberglass, clays, cellulose ..fibers and other materials. "We have been able to match the performance characteristics of asbestos and in some cases ex ceed them," said C. J. Sulewski, the company's senior vice presi dent for technology. "But in most cases, there is extra cost." In insulation and many other areas, asbestos has been replaced by combination of fiberglass, mineral wool and other materials. Craig R. Smith, president of the Raymaxk Corporation, said the process was "more complicated and expensive," and in some fric tion materials, suitable replacements do not most The new program would prevent only some of the expected cancer deaths for several reasons. One is that asbestos products will continue to be used. An other is that millions of Americans con tinue to be exposed to asbestos already in buildings. Finally, because it can take decades for people exposed to as bestos to grow ill, many of those ex posed in the past would not benefit from the new protections. The program's total cost to the pub lic, chiefl^ffprarhigher prices for as bestos substituted-'would be about $2 billion, which would come to about $10 for every American over the next 15 years, agency officials said. But Bob Pigg, president of the Asbes tos Information Association/North America, an industry group, said that "the ultimate impact of the rule would be the demise of the U.S. asbestos in dustry," which now numbers some 275 companies. Proposal Termed Unwarranted `We think the E.P.A. proposal is to tally unwarranted and completely in consistent with the international con sensus which favors control of asbestos as opposed to banning of asbestos," Mr. Pigg said. Dr. Irving J. Selikoff, a leading au thority on the health risks of asbestos, said that the E.P.A. rules represented a "very cautious approach" that fo cused on "the potential exposure of people and prevention of cancer while at the same time trying to meet eco nomic and industrial requirements." He sfggjjgrarer, that the proposal does fS^ppwith "major new expo sures griag; on," largely in the construedorrindustry, to workers exposed to th*3PttBin tons of asbestos ap plied over the last 80 years. Representative James J. Florio, Democrat of New Jersey, who is an ac tivist on toxics issues, said "I am pleased something is happening" tut It can be woven like fabric, for kiteben pot holders and fireproof suits. As a bonding agent, it was used in adhesives. It was used as insulation in toasters, hair dryers and other appliances. Du Font's substitute is Kevlar, a fiber firstsold in 1873 as a rein Expats say the most difficult asbestos product to substitute is pressure concrete pipe like that used in water mains. Unless a suitable substitute is found, those pipes will probably be replaced eventually by more expassive plastic, the experts said. added, "the sdbstance of the rule leaves something to be desired." He l said he planned to introduce legislation I soon requiring that standards be set to protect children and staff exposed to asbestos is schools. The E.P.A. currently requires only that schools be inspected for asbestos I dangers and that the remits be re- t ported to parent-teacher associations. HWBUI0001459