Document QJq2M0M6NVZpyj1MdKzY86G14

A British Release SEST09 AND K3AI.-TH 4 r si publicity, sometimes ill informed and exaggerated, wide spread concern is being expressed by those, who process or handle asbcstOw _. goods regarding the possible health hazards. The object of this document I- to -..z:.z: to put the present situation in its proper perspective so that processors anc us... o.' asbestos materials may be given advice and re-assurance as required. For man}' years the only Industrial disease known to be directly associate., v.-l.r. asbestos was a fibrosis of the lung known as asbestosis. This disease was rightly assumed to be caused by exposure of the worker over long periods to high concen trations of asbestos dust and the first step in dealing with the situation was the intro duction of the Asbestos Industry Regulations, 1931. These Regulations .ala down certain rules covering the handling of asbestos fibre in the manufacturing a.d-. a: the industry and the result was an immediate and significant improvement In v.arsing conditions. Dust control measures were introduced and since that time steady progress has been made in reducing the levels of dust concentration at all factory groceries. The result of these efforts has been a steady and substantial fall in the lanidcnca o: asbestosis where controls have been applied, leading to the view that the disease car. be eliminated by taking steps which are in line with modern industrial practice. Taking' the asbestos industry as a whole, statistics show that the incidence of asbestosis a a. risen in recent years and is still rising, which appears contrary to what has just beer, said. The rise is due, however, almost entirely to the Inclusion in the atatiati.a a: asbestosis cases among workers in the insulation contracting industry which Is not governed by the Regulations referred to, and where it was not at first realised that working methods amd conditions needed to be controlled. In recent years some cases of cancer bf the lung or bronchus associated with the asbestosi.' have been observed, particularly among older workers. It must ha emphasised t* at this increased incidence of cancer only occurs as a result of asbes tosis, and' not directly as a result of asbestos exposure, if the iatte: has not beer, sufficiently severe to lead to asbestosis. It therefore follows that if er. r.ronmeatai conditions are controlled to a level at which asbestosis is eliminated then the asso ciated lung and bronchial cancer will also disappear. Although this association between asbestosis and lung cancer is a ser.ous matter, it has not been the subject of alarmist publicity because the industry has d. onstrated conclusively that it is capable of control. The recent articles and comments In the press have been directed towards an entirely different health hazard, namely, the possible relationship between asbestos exposure (without asbestosis) ann a rare form of cancer known as mesothelioma. Mesothe.ial tumours are found ir. t.-.e pleura or peritoneum and their exact relationship to asbestos is still under investiga.lon. There is no doubt that the main association is with crocidolite (blue) asbestos; ar.y associa tion with chrysotTle (white) asbestos (the type mainly used in asbestos textiles and asbestos reinforced plastic products) is much less definite. No connection at a.l has HER 0004130 r so Tar been established between mesothelioma and amositc, the type o: asbentos used most widely in the insulation sice of the industry. The disease is vciy .arc, tac.c being only 500-600 eases on record in the world, compared with over 20,000 cases of lung cancer in Britain alone every year. Records at the London Hospital show that only S3 patients nave died of mesothelioma over a period of almost 50 years. About half the eases had had some contact with asbestos, in a further number contact was not -.certain, and about a quarter had had no contact at all. Furthermore, the hospital ir. question serves an area which includes a large asbestos factory as well as the London Docks, so it is certain that a very large number of people have been exposed to some degree. So much for the facts. It now remains to consider those processes involving the handling of asbestos and asbestos products where a hazard might exist and, if possible, to assess the extent of the hazard with a view to taking adequate preventive measures. In assessing any process, two main considerations must be taken into account - the extent to which the process generates airborne dust and whether it is an occasional or a regular operation. For instance, processes covered by the present Regulations only come within the orbit of these Regulations if they involve the employment of any one person for more than eight hours per week. This is a very arbitrary boundary, however,', and a better principle to adopt for dusty operations would be to protect the operator J where the work is occasional and control the operation where the work is continuous./ The method to be adopted for occasional work would be the wearing of an approved respirator by the worker coupled with careful handling of the material; for continuous work, engineered control such as ventilation or damping with the required degree of enclosure is recommended. Examples of processes which arc liable to generate significant amounts of dust are the handling of loose asbestos fibre, the sawing or machining of asbestos millboard and asbestos reinforced plastics, or the drawing of asbestos yarn through aper tures at high speed. The handling of asbestos cloth can also lead to the emission of dust in certain circumstances. The simplest method of controlling the operation is to apply damping where possible, otherwise ventilation and/or enclosure may be nec essary. Cloth may be'specially processed to reduce dust on handling. Simple opera tions such as the fitting of dry asbestos packings in pump glands and the cutting of sheet jointing materials containing asbestos arc not considered hazardous, nor is the wearing of asbestos clothing. To sum up, asbestosis with or without lung cancer is not likely to occur except in conditions involving lengthy exposure to fairly high dust concentrations. The controls applied in the manufacturing side of the industry have demonstrated that the disease can be minimised and possibly eliminated by limiting airborne dust to a reasonable level. It follows that most uses of asbestos products and many operations upon pro cess materials are free of risk in this respect, while those evolving substantial amounts of dust can fairly readily be made safe by established methods of damping, ventilation or enclosure. The exact measures to be taken will vary with the circumstances and the Asbestosis Research Council is at present working on a Code of Practice which is being made as comprehensive as possible. In the meantime, every effort will be made to deal with individual problems as they arise. Finally, whatever the connection between mesothelioma and asbestos exposure in general, any association between this extremely rare disease and white asbestos, which has been widely used throughout the world for many years, is still very indefinite. February, 1967. HER 0004131