Document dYnab9Be8yOmpvokEDZk8X3Ee

3 with the project officer, it was decided to add to the control groups the X-rays to be taken in examinations of Local 595, UAW members em ployed in production (non-maintenance) jobs in an automobile body construction facility in Linden, New Jersey. These workers were to be examined for effects of lead exposure associated with their work in an examination April 7-10, 1980. An analysis of their work activities had indicated that their current employment provided only limited opportu nity for asbestos exposure. The decision to Include this group was made prior to the April examination. 4 In order to reflect the effects of asbestos exposure, only those in dividuals with ten years of employment in a particular trade were considered for examination. In the case of the UAW members this con sisted of all individuals with ten years of union membership. For SEIU members who were classified as mechanics in the New York City Civil Service Employees categorization, five years of prior automobile main tenance work were required in order to obtain such a status. Thus, the criteria of five years of union membership identified individuals who had at least ten years of employment in garage work as a mechanic or apprentice. Table 1 lists the distribution by seniority date and union affiliation of all individuals who were invited and who participated in the examinations. The response was limited by several circumstances. One was the dis tance many individuals had to travel in order to reach an examination site. For example, both Local 259 and DC 37 Headquarters at which most examinations were held are located in lower Manhattan, whereas most study participants lived in Brooklyn or Queens. Many lived at even greater distances in Westchester or Nassau County, N.Y. or in New Jersey. Examination sites were arranged to accomodate as many of the study population as possible, but many individuals still lived at considerable distance from a site. Another factor was that most shops organized by these unions are relatively small (79% of the population workers in shops employing fewer than 30 members, only one-sixth of whom would have been employed for longer than ten years).