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FILE NAME: Ford (FD) DATE: 1976 DOC#: FD224 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Meeting Minutes - "Exposure to Asbestos Dust During Brake and Clutch Servicing" - Dept of Health, CDC & NIOSH DEPARTM ENT OP H EALTH , EDUCATIO N. PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE CENTER POR DISEASE CONTROL May 13/ 197 ..L. NATIONAL INSTITUTE PDR OCCUPATIONAL. s a f e t y ANO h e a l t h U.s. POST O FFICE AND COURTHOUSE CINCINNATI, OHIO <5202 Room 532 0 _ Roger Wabeke lord Motor Company - central Medical services aidg. < 3001 M iller Road Dearborn, Michigan 48121 Dear S ir : Please find attached the minutes he March 19, 1976 meeting on "Occupational Expocure to Aebectoo yDuot During rake and Clutoh servicing", i f you have comments or,.eorrections, please contact me a t (513) 6 8 4 -3 1 9 1 . ------- " ' s in ce re ly yo u rs, '777. / John M. Dement Assistant Chief Industrial Hygiene Section attachment 8005 1183 PRODUCED B Y FORD PENGAD 800-631-698S Department of Health, Education, and Welfare CDC, NIOSH Minutes of Meeting on Occupational Exposure to Aobcstoa Dust During Brake and Clutch Servicing C in cin n a ti, Ohio March IP , 1076 Minutes Prepared Bv John Dement Attendees See Attachment F t uceadings Dr. Bobby C r a ft, Acting D irecto r, D ivision of Su rveillance, Hazard Evalua tions and F ield Studies, KIOSK welcomed the attendees Dr, C ra ft stated that the purposes of the meeting were (1) to review the data availab le concerning asbestos fib e r exposures during brake and clutch servicin g (2) to explore the research po ten tial for further epidemiological s t u d i e s of garage mechanics and the sig n ifica n ce of such studies with respect to asbestos disease etiolo gy (3) to discuss what further courseCs) o f action NIoSH should take to assure minimum asbestos exposures to garage workers. He then asked Dr, Irving S e lik o ff to summarize current knowledge concerning asbestos exposures to garage mechanics and related health e ffe c t s . Dr S e lik o ff b r ie fly Kimnarized environmental and medical studies con ducted with Local 259 of the United Auto Workers and the New York Auto mobile Dealers A ssociation. These studies demonstrated peak asbestos fib e r exposures of 0.5 to 35 fibers/ec as determined by the standard OSKA phase contrast counting method. Using electron microscopic tech niques, i t was shown that 80 to 992! of the fib ers were shorter than 5 urn in length. Medical examinations of 93 brako repair workers with 10-dO years of exposure demonstrated a substantial number with x-ray and pul monary function abnorm alities. Dr. S e lik o ff estimated that more than one m illion workers are p o ten tially exposed to fr ic tio n product veer dusts. He also presented data showing that in 1920 there were approxi mately eight, m illion vehicles on the roads; However, in 1974 th is number 8005 1184 PRODUCED B Y FORD had Increased to approximately 130 m illio n . Dr. George Wright, in d u stria l medical consultant, pointed out that many garage mechanics perform grinding operations in addition to cleaning of the brake wear dusts. These workers would be exposed to longer fibers and thus would be expected to demonstrate the f u l l spectrum of asbestos related diseases. Dr. Wright suggested the follow ing points be consi dered With respect to future studies of brake mpehanlen: 1', A cohort should be established exposed solely to the dust released from "used" brakes by blowing or brushing. These dusts contain broken down fib e r s , re sin s, e tc . Fibers present in these dusts are largely shorter than 5 trn with some proportion altered to an amorphous fib e r . Such a study, i f properly conducted, could answer questions concerning the sign ificance of exposures to brake wear dusts and the b io lo g ic a l significance o f short versus long asbestos fib ers. 2) Since only ch rysotile has been used for aBbestos brake lin in g s , a study of brake mechanics would provide an opportunity to study industrial (as opposed to mining and m illing) ch rysotile exposures with respect to the development of mesothelioma. Dr. Wright suggested that low p rio rity be given to anything other than a mesothelioma survey. 3) A ca re fu l, sophisticated study of brake cleaning methods and work practices should be conducted to determine the optimum work practices for reducing exposures. Dr. Wright stated that in his opinion the chances o f designing a study to determine does-response relationships is minimal. Dr. Craft asked the group to consider the p o ssib ility o f defining a suitable cohort exposed so lely to brake lin in g wear dust (short fibers) for purposes of health studies. Mr. John Marsh, Raybestos-Manhattan Incorporated, presented data showing the number of workers in various types o f garages. These data were as follows: . Oarage Type Approx. S F a c ilitie s Av. 0 Mechanics Per Shop % of A ll Brake Work 'Performed Service Stations 195,000 2.5 Independent Garages 108,000 2.7 New Car Shops 39,000 5.7 Fleet Shops 21,000 7.6 50% 30% 18% 1-2% - 2- 8005 1185 PRODUCED BY FORD Mr. Lou R e ff, J .C . Penney, presented data concerning asbestos fib e r expo sures in 360 f a c i l i t i e s operated by J .C . Penney. Mr. R e ff indicated that, using a solvent washing technique, a zero fib e r exposure (phase contrast counts) could be obtained. Small exposures could be detected with sloppy work p ractice s. He indicated that sampling o f the ambient a ir outside o f the garage f a c i l i t y was done to obtain background le v e ls . John Dement of NIOSH presented preliminary data concerning tioe-weightedaveittge asbestos to garage brake mechanics. These data showed timeweighted-average exposures to be generally below 0.2 fibers/cc (phase contrast counts) even when using compressed a ir blowing techniques. However, exposures up to 10 fibers/cc ware observed in one f a c i l i t y grinding new lin in g s . He indicated the need to take these exposures into account when defining a population fo r an epidemiologic study. Mr. Dement also indicated that NIOSH electron microscopic studies of brake wear dusts demonstrated most fib ers to be less than 0.5 vm in length. Mr. Dement requested data from attendees concerning present and past use of new lin in g grinding methods. Messrs. Jacoby and Thacker, Delco-Moraine, indicated that radius grind ing in the garage should no longer be a common p ractice. Most manu facturers are presently "crown grinding" new lin in g s thus elim inating this practice in garages. ])r, S c lik o ff addressed the problem of defining a cohort exposed only to short fib e r s . He suggested the p o s s ib ility of choosing garages in approximately six large c it ie s for study. Large shop employees, municipal employees and tax!f l e e t workers could provide a large and stab le work force. In addition to medical studies of garage employees, Dr. S e lik o ff suggested studies of tha mineralogy of wear duota, otudiea of worker asbestos lung burder. and animal inhalation experiments. John Marsh indicated that informing garage mechanics of the hazards associated with exposures to wear dusts and associated work practice tc minimize these exposures is an enormous problem. Raybestos-Manhattan is. placing warning s lip s in brake lin in g boxes in addition publishing service manuals and various information pamphletc- Dr. Craft indicated -.oncem that the NIOSH A le r t, issued on August 8, 1975, had not reached more garage mechanics and garage operators. Dr. Croft suggested that niosh might consider publishing a booklet fo r garage work (brake rebuilding) through i t s small business task fo rce . Dr. S e lik o ff closed his remarks suggesting four areas of consideration by NIOSH. . i) NIOSH should request information on fr ic tio n product use including a secular history of brake manufacturing and formulations from industry. -3- 8005 118 PRODUCED B T FORD 2) NIOSH should continue studies of exposures to asbestos fib e rs during brake rebuilding including determinations of peak and time-weighted- average exposures. ` 3) A prevalance study including x-ray, pulmonary function and eputum ___ cytology should be conducted among a cohort 1000 garage workers. NIOSH should also conduct a s ix month fe a s ib ilit y Btudy to determine i f an appropriate cohort f * - - m n m m v study could be defined. Tissue asbestos fib e r burden studies should be considered. -- A) NIOSH should continue developing approaches to educate exposed workers Dr. C raft thanked the attendees fo r th e ir participation in the meeting, and indicated that NIOSH would consider further research in th is area with respect to ongoing research, current study p r io r itie s and a v a ila b ility of resources. cc: A ll Attendees Dr. Finklea Ed Baier Dr. Wagoner Dr. T. Mancuso Angelo Ceflo -4- 005 1187 PRODUCED BY FORD NAME Ur, Cratt Denny Dobbin Paul Johnson John Dement ' Richard Lernen P h il Bierbaum R. T. Hughes David Grotli Clancy Wuellner Glen Jacoby Lon Thacker John H. Karsh Roger Wabeke George V. Wright Lou Reff Irving Selik o ff William H. Krebbs ATTENDEES AFFILIATION D irector, DSHEFS - NIOSH DSHEFS - NIOSH DSHEFS - NIOSH DSHEFS - NIOSH DSHEFS - NIOSH DSHEFS - NIOSH DPSE - NIOSH DBBS - NIOSH Delco Moraine D iv. , GMC Delco Moraine D iv ., GMC Delco Moraine D iv ., GMC Raybestos-Manhattan, In c. Ford Motor Co. Independent Consultant (a large part of JM) J . C. Penney Mount Sin ai General Motors Corp. PHONE NUMBER 513-684-3541 513-684-3255 513-684-3255 513- 684-3191 513-684-2761 513-684-2325 513-684-2591 513-684-2622 513-445-4244 513-445-4413 513-445-415 203-371-0101 313- 322-2630 303-733-6313 212-957-7625 212-876-1178 313-575-2791 8005 1188 PRODUCED B Y FORD