Document Rz14qqeBa7novkwQDQ8933oX
FILE NAME: International Talc Company Inc (ITC)
DATE: 1972 Apr
DOC#: ITC004
DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Supplementary Notes Supplied to the Attendees of the IITRI - Seminar on Asbestos
Supplementary Notes Supplied to the Attendees of the IITRI
SEMINAR ON ASBESTOS
April 4-7, 1972
IIT Research Institute 10 West 35th Street Chicago, Illinois 60616
Tuesday, April 4 th
Cha irma n Dr. Colin F. Harwood
Morning
9:00 - 9:30 9:30 - 9:40 9:40 - 11:00 11:00 - 11:15 11:15 - 12:00 12:00 - 1:00
Regis tra tion Opening Welcome Introduction Coffee Break Introduction (cont'd) Lunch
Dr. Harwood Dr. Harwood
Afternoon
1:00 2:00 2:15 3:30 -
2:00 2:15 3:30 4:00
Medical Aspects
Dr. Nicholson
Coffee Break
Medical Aspects (cont'd) Dr. Nicholson
Questions and Speakers
from Floor
Wednesday, April 5th
Chairman - Dr. Colin F. Harwood
Morning
9:00 - 10:15 10:15 - 10:30 10:30 - 11:30 11:30 - 12:00
12:00 - 1:00
Legal Aspects Coffee Break Legal Aspects (cont'd) Questions and Speakers
from Floor . Lunch
Mr. Tim Harker M r . Tim Harker
Afternoon ' 1:00 - 2:00
2:00 - 2:15 2:15 - 3:15
3:15 - 3:45
3:45 - 4:00
In-Plant Control Techniques
Coffee Break In-Plant Concentration
Levels Experience of Good and
Bad Practice Questions and Speakers
from Floor
Dr. Harwood
Dr. Harwood Mr. Nathan Willens
Thursday, April 6th
Chairman - Mr. Reg Davies
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IITRI ASBESTOS SEMINAR AGENDA Page 2
Afternoon
1:00 - 1:45
Basis for the Occupa-
tional Exposure Levels
i
1:45 - 2:15
Worker Protection
Aspects
Mr. Duncan Holaday
2:15 - 2:30
Coffee Break
2:30 - 3:30
Worker Protection
Aspects (cont'd)
Mr. Duncan Holaday
3:30 - 4:00
Questions and Speakers
from Floor
Friday, April 7th
Chairman - Dr. Colin F. Harwood
Morning
9:00 - 10:00
Monitoring Theory
Mr. John Stockhaxn
10:00 - 10:15
Coffee Break
10:15 - 11:45
Standard Methods of
}
Monitoring
M r . John Stockham
11:45 - 12:00
Questions from Floor
J
jI :
production),, Total US production (1969) was 125,936 tons, valued at an estimated $10,648,000
The United States utilizes about one-fourth of the world's production of asbestos, practically all of it is imported from Canada and Africa Figure 1 graphically illustrates domestic supply and consumption
3.
ASBESTOS EMISSIONS
3,,1 Mon-Industrial Sources
Before entering into the main source of asbestos emissions, that is, through commercial manufacturers processes, it is worthwhile to consider briefly other less obvious but important mission sources These may be listed ass
Rock Outcrops Farming < Construction Talcum Powder
31,,1 Rock Outcrops
It has been pointed out previously in Table 1 that asbestoscontaining rock outcrops in very many areas of the United States It is interesting to note that in 1920, Staten Island was once considered a large enough outcrop that mining on a commercial scale was undertaken there
Emission from such outcrops will occur due to the natural eroding processes of earthquakes, temperature, wind,and rain Thus,wind and water-borne erosion products will inevitably contain asbestos particles
3.1.2 Farming
Farming of the soil in areas containing asbestos rock will cause the emission of fibers. Such actions as tilling of the soil are always dusty operations (unless, of course, it happens to be wet), the extent of the emissions will depend on
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the concentration of asbestos in the soil.
Studies have been conducted on the effect of such emis sions on the health of the local population(1). T^ e evidence, though not very conclusive, suggested that asbestosis could be caused by agricultural employment.
3.1.3 Construction
The outcrops of asbestos-containing rock will give rise to emissions whenever construction is undertaken. Hence, such activity as excavating for housing, pipe laying, and road making, must be considered as a source.
3.1.4 Talc um Powder s
Talcum powder is a mineral rock dust very closely related mineralogically to asbestos. The main difference lies in the fact that talcum powder has a platy morphology, while asbestos is characterized by its fibrous nature.
The fact that talc is very frequently found with a signi ficant fibrous content now leads to a very important situation since the total quantities of talc rained in the U.S. exceeds that of asbestos, , <
It was pointed out by Cralley(2) that the majority of cos metic talcs contain significant quantities of fibrous particles. Virtually everybody, from babies up, is exposed to cosmetic talc and so are exposed, to the threat of asbestos bodies.
Apart from the cosmetic use, talc is used very consider ably in industry as, for example, a filler and as a lubricant in the production of pharmaceutical tablets and rubber goods. Another large use is as a carrier for pesticides in the spraying of crops.
On a more exotic note, there has been recent publications on the use of talcum for polishing r i c e (3,4) and its association with stomach cancer because of its asbestos content. Even more
I IT RE SE A RC H INSTITUTE
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sxcne is the quote cf >;der that children may be endangered by zr.e ts.c used as a lubricant in rubber balloons.
The above discussion on talc has been included for com pleteness in this report concerning asbestos. Certainly it should not be neglected when considering the health effects and hazard of asbestos fibers.
Other studies discussing the presence of asbestiform fibers in the mining of talc are those of Slegal(5) and of G r e e n b e r g (6)
3 -2 Manufacturing Processes
3.2.1 Introduction
Several tasks preliminary to the manufacture of asbestos products are potential emission sources. These are common to all asbestos processing. They include such functions as un loading and storage of milled asbestos, subsequent transport of the bagged asbestos to the bag opening area, fluffing of the compacted fibers, .and a mixing process where asbestos fibers are dry mixed with other materials.
The bagged asbestos is usually unloaded from railway box cars, moved to storage areas, and finally transported to bag opening areas by fgrk-lift trucks. Opportunities exist during each of these operations for bags to become damaged and spill fibers to the atmosphere.
The amount of emission from the bag opening and dumping processes depend upon the degree to which the tasks are enclosed, in some instances, the bags are cut open with sharp knives and the contents dumped into a container or onto a conveyor belt.
The compacted fibers, from packing at the mill, are fed through a "willow" or "Moody fluffer" which fluffs up and separates the fibers. This operation may also be employed as a blending stage wherein several grades of fibers are thoroughly mixed.
11T R E S E A R C H
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INSTITUTE