Document RpbmobO3ddYLnXNkGdZypdJz7

of Th City Jfwmtv o' Nr* Yort INSULATION HYGIENE PROGRESS REPORTS FROM THE INSULATION INDUSTRY HYGIENE RESEARCH PROGRAM VoLSNo.2 Summar 1974 8I991001S Court of Appeals Orders Review of Asbestos Standar In a historic decision on April 15. 1974, the U.S. Court of Appeals forthe District of Columbia ordered the Sec retary of Labor to review portions of the Asbestos Standard promulgated on June 7, 1972. The ruling, written by Circuit Judge McGowen. was in re sponse to a petition filed by the AFLCIO urging reversal of the existing standard. The Court ruling, which was rendered in a forty-one page decision, contains the following provisions ap plicable to insulation work: 1. In those industries where a dust level of two fibers/ml is feasible, it should be implemented before 1976. Here, the court took note of tes timony of Duncan Holaday of the I.I.H.R.P.. industry witnesses and others that a two fiber standard could be implemented in commercial and industrial insulation work within two years (of April, 1972). (Continued on fourth page) Dr. lrvm| J. Sclikoff, Directorof the Insuinoa Induary Hygiene Rematch Program. owen questions regarding health effects of isbesos in discuasions wnh Local 93 metnhen David Panenon. Mano Di Rocco, Richanl Younkman, Thomas Hughes. Thomas Smith. William Ftazier, Edwatd Cisek and Mike Hamswonh. Waiter Hanna. Business Agent of Local 93. pro vides Dr. Henry Anderson of Mount Sinai with details of his pa* medical history Local 93 Exams Show Continuing Shipyard Problems Examinations of Local 93 (Philadel phia Naval Shipyard) of the Interna tional Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Wotkers con ducted by staff physicians of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine reveal asbes tos problems still exist in shipyard work. While much insulation material now has no asbestos content and the use of asbestos is required to be much better controlled, asbestos material in use by other trades poses a continuing prob lem. Here, asbestos cement and dust 398483 (Continued on third page) Insulation Hygiene Progress Reports Dust Control Important in Alaskan Pipeline Work Vol. 6, No. 2 Summer 1974 from the Insulauon Industry Hygiene Research Program Editor: W. J. Nkfcoboa, Pti.D.. Published at he Environmental Sciences Laboratory (Irving J Selikoff. M.D.. Director). Mount Sinai School of Medicine of the City University of New York. NY. 10029 Advisory Couadl of HHRP Irving J. Selikoff. M.D . Piugraui Director and E. Cuyler Hammond. Sc.D., Vice President. American Cancer Society. New York. N.Y. Andrew Haas. General President, lnteraatnaai Asaociwon of Heat and Frost Insulators and As bestos Workers. Washington. D.C. Fred L. Pundsack. Pti.D.. Vice Presidem. Re search and Development. Johns-ManviJIe Cor poration. Denver, Colo. PURPOSES OF THE INSULATION INDUSTRY HYGIENE RESEARCH PROGRAM 1. To develop improved methods for minimizing exposure of insu lation workers to dusts and fumes, encountered in their work. 2. To disseminate knowledge of these improved methods of dust control wherever they may be applied advantageously and to offer cooperation, advice and assistance toward their universal adoption. Asbestos Workers from all parts of the United States will soon begin work insulating approximately 400 miles of the 48-inch diameter Alaskan pipeline. Additional insulation work will be re quired in pumping stations and tank farms. The wade will commence this summer and continue for three years. The insulation material to be used on the pipe will either be fibrous glass or rigid polyurethane foam. Little or no asbestos-containing materials are called for in the specifications. While asbestos is not to be used, each of the two materials contemplated for use has been shown to produce cancer in animals. Because of the remoteness of operations, the extreme weather and working conditions, and the urgency to complete the job, special efforts are planned to assure that adequate precau tions are taken to protect the health of insulators. All of the procedures appropriate for dust control in asbestos work should be applied here--exhaust ventilation on all portable and stationary power tools, down draft cutting tables for hand saws, adequate clean-up procedures in fabri cation shops, and use of disposable respirators, if warranted. The possibility that dust from polyurethane foam insulation might be hazardous was discussed previously in Vol. 4, No. 2 of IHRP. In view of the possible extensive use of this material for insulating the pipeline, it is appro priate to review the available informa tion on its possible health effects. Workers who are sawing or abrading this material may be exposed to plastic dusts, dust from added fire retardants, dust from reinforcing materials, gases from unreacted TDI or MDI (See Vol. 5, No. 4) trapped in the insulation, and a mixture of decomposition products produced by heat from cutting or abrad ing operations. . No studies have been reported on effects on humans exposed to dusts from polyurethane insulation. How ever, the Institute of Environmental Medicine at New York University has conducted animal experiments which were designed to duplicate conditions of use. _ .: . Two groups of rats were exposed for 30 days to dusts and gases produced by grinding polyurethane insulation. For the low exposure group, the atmos pheric concentration of dust was 3.6 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m1) and for the higher group it was 20 mg/m1. The Threshold Limit Value for `nuisance dusts" is 10 mg/m1. Thus, the "low" group was exposed to about one-third and the "high" group to CO about twice the dust concentration --< which is considered acceptable for long c--i term, daily, occupational exposures. <--*> Considering the brief exposure time x~ and the relatively low dust concentra- tions, the effects on the animals were disturbing. One rat out of 39 in the ___ lower exposure group and 9 out of 43 in the higher group developed em physema. In addition, one lung cancer was found in each group, and one liver cancer in the "low" group. The investigators concluded that polyurethane insulating materials must be considered a serious industrial health hazard. In a 1972 publication by Dr. Mearl Stanton of the National Cancer Institute it was shown that fibrous glass and other inorganic fibers could produce mesothelioma when implanted into the pleura of tats. Subsequent investiga tions by the N.C.I. scientists have con firmed these results and a detailed de scription of their work was presented at the Lyon, France, Conference on the Biological Effects of Asbestos. They concluded that the car cinogenicity of asbestos and fibrous glass (in their animal experiments) ap peared primarily related to the struc tural shape of the materials, rather than to their physiochemical properties. Of special concern here are fibers of a diameter less than 3-5 microns that may be inhaled and deposited in the lower spaces of the lung. In commenting on the use ofeither of these materials on the J Alaskan pipeline. Dr. Selikoff, Director of the I.I.H.R.P., staled, "We haw learned the techniques and engineering controls that will allow asbestos to be used safely. These should be applied with equal vigor to the use of rigid polyurethane and fibrous glass." - *4 -A- 398484 Asbestos Dust Does Not Respect Jurisdictional Lines Local 93 Exams tCtinnnued from Jiru page) released during application of fire brick and other materials in boiler insulation by members of the Boilermakers Union may expose a variety of trades, includ ing insulators. Local 93 members re port this to be one of their most signifi cant sources of exposure. Asbestos dust in shipyard air cer tainly does not obey jurisdictional craft lines. In a British paper on the inci dence of mesothelioma in shipyard workers, it was stated by Dr. F. Whitwell that, "the exact nature of their Mano Di Rocco is examined by Dr. AJf Fuchhein of Mount Sinai. work was much less important than the fact that they worked in shipyards." A letter has recently been sent by Walter Hanna, Business Agent of Local 93. to Michael Wood, Assistant to the President of the Boilermakers, alerting that union to the possible risks associated with their shipyard asbestos exposure. The concern of Local 93 members for possible effects of their asbestos ex posure is real. A review of the records of this Local reveals that more than half of the deaths of their members during seven years have been from cancer, and an additional 22% from asbestosis. (See Table). Joan Oswald draws blood from William Frazier for laboratory analysis. Fiances ftiex and Janet Kaffcnburjb assist in the Local 93 examinations. D--tha Local 93, IAHFIAW Jan. 1. 1967--Dec. 31. 1973 Total deaths--all causes.............. 18 Total cancer............................10 Lung cancer...................... 4 Pleural mesothelioma......2 Cancer stomach, colon....2 All other cancers............. 2 Asbestosis................................. 4 All other causes....................... 4 398485 STOOL 6620 Review of Asbestos Standard Considered I 299'iOOJ.S (Continued from first page) 2. The provision that dust monitor ing recoids be maintained for only three yean was deemed inadequate in view of the need for such informa tion in assessing the health effects of asbestos at different exposure levels. Each of the above aspects of the standard was explicitly remanded to the Secretary of Labor for reconsideration and modification. Furthermore, the Court ruled that certain provisions of the standard be interpreted in a manner to provide greater protection for insuiaton and other asbestos workers. It was specifi cally stated that the engineering con trols and other dust control procedures mentioned in the standard be applied before dust concentrations are shown to be excessive. It is not necessary that a dust count show levels above five fibers/ml before such items as in-bag mixing of cement, exhaust ventilation on all handoperated or power-operated tools be utilized. The interpretation of the three-judge court is that these are now mandatory any time asbestos even might be released in excess of the ex posure limits. With respect to monitoring, the judges ruled that monitoring of work places must be continued periodically to assure that compliance with the standard is maintained even though ini tial dust counts showed levels lower than five fibers/ml. Two principal contentions of the AFL-CIO in its suit were based upon the provisions in the Occupational Safety and Health Act that "The Sec retary (of Labor)... shall set the stand ard which most adequately assures, to the extent feasible, on the basis of the best available evidence, that no em ployee will suffer material impairment of health or functional capacity ..." and that the National Institute of Occu pational Safety and Health shall de velop criteria documents that describe such safe levels of exposure. The position of the AFL-CIO was: 1. that the Department of Labor must accept the recommendations of the Na tional Institute for Occupational Safety and Health as to what constitutes safe exposure limits and can only take into account the feasibility of implementa tion in setting a standard, and 2. that the economic effect on an industry cannot be considered in determining the feasi bility of a health standard. Each of these contentions was re jected by the Court as too restrictive or not consistent with procedures other wise specified in the Occupational Safety and Health Act. In the latter instance, however. Judge MeGowen ruled that economic considerations of laggard employers cannot be used to delay implementation of a standard which is feasible for the rest of the industry. The Court also rejected the position of labor that medical records be sup plied only to a physician of the employee's choosing or to NIOSH. Thus the stalemate on employersponsored medical examinations for in sulators remains. However, the posi tion of the Department of Labor in this matter is that while the employer must offer such examinations, it is not required that an Asbestos Worker take them. The judges also ruled that the specification of the present labeling provisions on asbestos products fell within the scope of the Secretary of Labor and need not be reviewed. In summary: Whik not granting all points in the AFL- CIO suit, the Circuit Court upheld in principle a major contention of labor on several items--that ex posure be reduced to the lowest feasible levels as rapidly as possible. The ruling of the Appeals Court comes at a time of increasing pressure on the Department of Labor for a re view of the current Asbestos Standard. Since the Department of Labor hear ings were held on the standard, addi tional significant information on the scope of asbestos health effects has ap peared which must be carefully con sidered and evaluated. In their recommendation that a twofiber standard be implemented within two years, NIOSH gave considerable weight to the existing British standard and the data that supported it. That standard, proposed by a committee of the British Occupational Hygiene So ciety and adopted by the British Factory Inspectorate, was based on the view that a lifetime work exposure of two fibers/ml would give rise to no more than a 1% risk that an individual would develop critical signs of asbestosis. Parenthetically, the committee noted that these data were inadequate to set a level that would protect workers against cancer. In proposing their standard, the British committee relied on the only substantive evidence existing at that time (1966-67) relating asbestos dis ease to exposure levels. That was data supplied to them on dust counts and clinical signs of asbestosis in the cur rent work force of a large British asbes tos textile factory. Unfortunately, at the time of review only 13 individuals in the study group had longer than 30 years from first ex posure to asbestos, and the majority had less than 20 years. As asbestosassociated disease seldom appears be fore 20 years and often after 30 years, this was a limitation of the BOHS study and was recognized as such by the committee. Recently, new data have been pub lished, involving many of the same in dividuals in the initial British study, suggesting that more asbestosassociated disease may be present than originally was thought to be the case. This increase could be the result both of the greater time for the disease to de velop in the population and of the use of the recently developed ILO/UC stand ard classification procedure to identify X-ray evidence of asbestosis. At the International Conference on the Biological Effects of Asbestos, held during October, 1972 in Lyon. France, it was announced that a review of the British standard would be con sidered. Additionally, new information is being developed in the United States to identify groups, exposed at levels lower than the current Asbestos Standard, in which asbestos disease has been found. Furthermore, data published since the hearings on the Asbestos Standard sub stantiate that presented by I.I.H.R.P. personnel that insulation workers' ex posures are, on a time-weighted aver age, considerably lower than five fibers/ml. thus raising serious questions over the efficiency of the current standard. Prior to the Court of Appeals deci sion, the Department of Labor was considering changes that might be in corporated in a revised standard, par ticularly the feasibility of placing great er reliance on specified work practices rather than on periodic monitoring to assure a safe workplace. 398486