Document RQZxpjYw11X9nRxaeqYv6Or7

PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT f AL-1288 1 Drastic Cut in Asbestos Exposure Urged Centex Unit Awarded Johnson By Federal Agency for 250,000 Workers $19.1 Million Contract Disclose By Sail Bronson For VA Hospital Jqb However, whan the British plant was res- .r > 1 Of Antii *(// Reporter of Th* VaixStust Journal Federal researchen are urging a- drastic reduction In the occupational exposure ot man than 250,000 workers' to asbestos, a fcpeWB carclnogan, to aqo-tenth ot the cur- Mpt federal ttandard. Gbrdnogena are can cer prOduclnjf'oi^hMtthig agents. In an unpqbltebftd report, the National In- uStttm* for. Occupational Safety and Health ncommsrai that worker exposure to air- boms nbatmar be. limbed to 100,000 fibers per M alr.ta eight hours. In ad dition; ttwMMfuttkM'Want peak concentra tions of eacpmififrklarted to (00,000 fibers per cure Raae^ on lft-mlmite l- .Current . standards limit asbestos co taro cnilllasrnjSm'jNff ctibtfc meter at air. This standanf was pfomulgatdd By the Oc cupational Safety and Health Administration in 1(72, at Which time Industry was given four years to comply. Plants were required tudled In 1972. 11 was found that there was a greater Incidence of asbeNtoats than the British standard warranted. In fact, at the workers exposed for 10 years to It years had some kind of chest abnormality, and the rale of abnormalities Increased with the rate of asbesloe exposure. Other studies show an Increased mortal By < Wall Strict JoCRRa-L Staff Reporter DALLAS-Cemex Oorp. said Us J. W. flv a Waia 8+st Bateson Co. unit was awarded a contract of' WASHINOTOft (19.1 million lor the seoond phase construc closed that the I tion of a 400-bed replacement hospital at the Veterans Administration Hospital tn Colum bia, S.C. Centex said Bateson s work will be per has been Invest^ -medlcaHsappy b. ' 'The' New ity rate from cancer among workers ex formed by Its subsidiary. Cardinal.Contract `made the dlscloe posed to asbestos, says John Dement, an In ing Co., the concern that Is currently per -statement It tile, stitute industrial hygienist. A British study forming the initial construction work, . `^xchsipge Comm, published this year showed that workers ex 'inth rmmuno-Sd. GM Agrees toposed, to asbestos from 1933 to 1950 had 1.8 timys as 'much chance of contracting lung cancer as the expected number of cancer son said that the. "Comprehensive tefth an btyeafigx' LeadrExposUteDtitcdicases in the general population. Mr. Dement adds that British secientists found that In JWinson A Jphru workers employed up to IS years beyond wx, ^^Thow tohif.ltieTnve To1950, during a period when industry Im proved Its engineering controls and technol ogy for plant environment, the excess can nstittytei %hal The'butcom A* M- bald'in Its ?SC s cer case statistics continued to show up. to set p Improved ventilation systems! In the interim period, an "emergency" expo sure standard remained in force after it was set by OSHA under pressure from the AFL- CIO. The institute recommendations In 1072 to OSHA were well below those actually car ried out. "`Our 1972 recommendations were designed to protect workers from asbesUnls. or chronic lung disease," says Vame rose, tfiptitute director for criteria documentation, S'Uiqt, gig. necessarily-tram-eaneef. We are k*\ow *ugvmtlngltM.'lea>t detectable fccpow* level-In the-Workplace. Th< reason is (gpt -we deb t knc&.wtiat could possibly bwa `Excess of Cancer Risk' By a Wi.i.Stkcit JocXNAL 8f//Brvor<sT In a South Dakota gold-mine study pub WASHINGTON - General Motors Carp, lished this year, researchers found that the notified a federal occiqiational TiealLh 440 workers had three times as many cases agency that it will furnish many of the rec of respiratory disease as expected, based on ords on worker exposure to lead that the the stale mortality rates. These workers agency had threatened to subpoena. - were exposed to less than 250.000 fibers per The National Institute for Occupational cubic meter In eight hours. Safety and Health said GM's medical direc "We re saying reduce exposures Uo as tor, Dr Robert C. Welncek. notified the bestos) to a bare minimum because we agency that the data would be made avail can't tell you how low you have to go to able af a meeting-next month. "We are oon- eHliimnuinnaatiea aa ocaanncceerr..nrlustk*." s*a>y'i MJ*irr Duveomeeiniut 1 fitinU Utbt thc v- i d^titw-hich will . t -* ... be , submitted . * All studies have shown an excess ofcancer*} wtf reflect.giramneem with employe healtii risk at aU levels of exposure lo asbestos." The reason for aSRAraevaluating the .. . a. rftL. k. tfe*.` t5y.^Y*M* /of^f,nt*stdoantaly' a fair and the letter obde- -V-. safe level of exposure over the working life bestos standard stems from a 1974 suit by * c are" time without adverse health effects." : the AFL-CIO's Industrial union drpartpient ^t^fhai QwMy i>onrt--teS ;* . ' against the Department of .Labor cornplaln- Federal officials hope- the GM records, which go back more than 20 years, will help !*' The isfriaL yisnty of- tiny asbeptos fSberaff ing about several boinlaln the11972 exposure. } fRetia8gvifc. the kg*!l#' well docamenled. Standard. The-. -^FL-pIO petitioned fair It the exposure to asbetce dust in the work changes to be made fit tha'jequlned medical place Is slashed. Industries that use the ma records that employers maintain on work- terial such as construction and oil refining, era. and a requested that the timetable fur may come under increased pressure to sub lowering asbestos . exposure . limits*-, he stitute nontoxic materials. Asbestos is used stepped up. in fireproof textiles, shingle Insulation, and The federal cqurl of appeal* in WR-shing- thermal piping, among other products. ton, D.C.. directed DOHA to reconsider those "It's not possible to establish a safe expo two provisions of the standard At that time, sure level for thy carcinogenic activity of aw the entorcemerit agency decided the stan bestoa,"' says 2&- John F. Rhklea, director dard possibly wasn't protec tive enough at ft tbe^nstitute^i^betsfore, emphasis Wxxild asbestos workers''health and |t decided lb he piiced oh prohibits the occupational repropose tbie `entire standard! beyond the nee of esbettgfjin -wtber (has completely court directive/says an.BfiHAjipakesmati. closed operations, and on substituting other OflHA enlisted the aid of the National In determine whether there ts a relationship between lead levels In workplace air and lead levels found fa workers' blood. TVe rec ords involve GM's Munde. Ind., DelepRemy lead battery plant. In late November." Institute offibtaJs .saNUhey were considering subpoenaing thr-crecords because GM had., declined io mak^fthenj available. Tte rnmpany stud K would furnish monlii'i ing tlnta from tfffi ti> 1978. os well as a study of women employed al the plant from 1972 to 1975. It also agreed to discuss sub-, mission of the earlier data. GM added that it would explain numerous factors which !' li.mil the use" of the data in conducting the study the institute has in mind. products whenever poestble." stitute for Occupational Safety and Health in Tttf 49ff -tMfitytf iwoommengatMnd on the re-yyaluialion to study dtw research de Coal-Burning Capability aibestotM OSfU Were baaed tiyiert da the velopments and j|xplore advances In protec research H Ugfrfottete. Oca#ational tive technology'as they related.to asbestos Ordered for New Utilities Who* flocietyr WhKh evaluated 3 workers exposure. f*The OSHA Spokesman said the WyaU Jotknal 8**ft Reporter la an asbestara factory. Based on that work, agency will hold public hearings early next WASHINGTON - The Federal En-' the Institute concluded that a two-mi!lion-fi year on proposed, revised standards before erery AdmltUslraUon Intends to require bers limit would prevent asbestosla. promulgating the final rule. 20 proposed eleclnc utility plants to be built with the capability to bum coal. The latest EEA orders ure part otfa Jacquin Aides Fined Pacific Options federal pruran^ to require utilitJei to burn abundant ` roul, rather than the For IS1 ot Assisting SEC Liquor Inquiry Octen 1 RorftAm BonkAm BonkAm Cf l* 0 O SAom Otvtov Dtvwv 0*tnv orko Zi . 41 M 40 4W3V-. - j-m - - Ac* - - AJ - n y Voi LObl Voi Lost Vot Lost Ckar 5 r * i sv> 5 >H 4`* w*. 1 vt a* i 1 2m 44Vd 60 m yru 2* n u 5 U>-4 jIvt a 4bis d 46*4 niore-acarce supplies of oil and natural Ka.. to penenfr electricity The agency already has Hnnoinred Its inlenUon to order 122 other r>r<`vposed power plants lo burn coal, -mo ba-s required 74 inp plants to convert tn coal from oli an*I l'Ji.s If .ill the f-XA orders xire carried )1' tKki i LaxOt. ./* * >- , -1-| in<'rP'4!RP