Document V5NrqVX2KDp6JYyQw6ZgGOzZ

Vol. 2, No. 3 GERSHON W, FICHBEIN, PUBLISHER : February 8,1972 Main Office * 1097 National Press Building Washington, D.C. 20004 (202) 347-3770 FEB o 1972 ASBESTOS STANDARD OF 2 FIBERS RECOMMENDED: J 'J. W. ARMSTRONG Workers should be exposed to nil average of no more than 2 fibers of asbestos per eight-hour day, nor more than a peak concentration of ten fibers per day, both based oh a minimum sampling time of, 1,5 minutes. That recommendation came front tlie National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health in its cri teria package for asbestos, submitted1 to the. Labor Department and discussed by the five-member Advisory Committee on Asbestos Feb. 3. , p Medical surveillance should be required for any exposure exceeding 1 fiber, NIOSH recommended. Such surveillance should ineltute pulmonary function sttidies,-medicalHistories, physical examinations (including x-rays, evidence of fingfcr clubbing and other symptoms suggestive of early asbestosis). Mahy other considerations were included in the 126-pngc criteria document. NlOSIi recommends standards based on the health data, but it is up to the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration to decide whether to adopt them. A'it>niergcncj^^rdarfliof.5 fibers was issued Dec. 7ujiearin|gs oil thq proposed permanent standards begins March :14 in Washington's Departmental Auditorium. ; u Evbn before ihcNlOSiLcriteria package was submitted,However, an ajsbestos industry spokesman warned the poverhmeiitjhhat; it; coil Id not rely on industry, cooperation if a standard below 5 fibers was adopted. : HP Pi- Hd .PP .... ijh a Matt Swetonic of the Asbestos: Information Association told a meeting; of industry leprescntativus and national trade associations convened. by OSHA that industry could not;support a level of 2 fibers and questioned whether medical evidence really supports lower standards. Dr. John Welsh, medical director of Union Carbide, said industry is finding it difficult to meet the emergency standard of i fiberS'tmd expressed the hope.that it Would go: no lower. He also felt that fibers smaller than 1/2 micron should be considered in the standard-setting. Dr, Welsh also quoted Dr. Irving Selikoff of ML Sinai Medical Center, in New York as telling him that the original TLVs for asbestos were unfortunately unrealistic and conse quently were never adhered to by the bulk of the industry. A common theme of comments by industry at the meeting was that they were being excluded from the standard-soiling.process and warned more.'input before the-.standards w:,e.re set, not'after. The Asbestos Advisory Committee,whieii met Feb. 3 and will hold sdyeiaLother mi etirtgs.on the pro posed perniaiieiU standards beforeHie hearings begin March 4, consists of: f J EliWin C. Hyatt, Industrial ! lygicne Group Leader, Cos Alamos (N.M.) Scientific Lab, chairman; -tack Batil f, imlus'-rial hygienist, New York State. Department of'Cabor; Dr. Joseph K. Wagoner, Director, Divi sion of Field Study and Clinical Investigaiion, NIOS1I, Cincinnati; Isaac Weaver, Director of Environmental Controls, Kaybestos-Manhattan Corp., Manlieini, Pa.; Andy 1 la as. Safety Director, Asbestos Workers Inter national Union, Washington, D.C. GEORGIA COMPANY CONTINUES TO MANUFACTURE CARCINOGEN: Beta-naphthalamine, a demonstrable carcinogen which has been known to cause bladder cancer in .workers who handle it, is still being produced by'the Augusta Chemical Coi,.Augusta, Ga., even Though nuny states and other countries have long banned its manufacture. 'r 1 he plant was recently visited by representatives of 1 lEW's National Ihstiiumof Occupational Safety and Health, acting on their own inii tnlive on the basis of information supplied to them. The company is non-union, tlie 40 or so workers having twice rejected union 'representation in elections. HWBUI0004858