Document jBowrLM77wRQ55Qxpk8OgMGX9

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Occupational Safety and Health Administration WASHINGTON, D.C. 20210 September 1, 1972 SEP 71972 Mr. V. J. Meyers, Manager Environmental Health and Safety Administration Western Electric 222 Broadway New York, New York 10038 Dear Mr. Meyers: This is in reply to your letter of July 13, 1972 to Mr. Chain Robbins, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor. Medical examinations are required for all employees engaged in * occupations regularly exposed to airborne concentrations of asbestos dust. This would not apply tq employees who are engaged in other occupations, even though they may occasionally, and momentarily, enter an area where there are operations involving the use of asbestos. We do not at this time know specifically which levels of asbestos _ fibers above zero exposure will not produce mesothelioma, lung cancer and abdominal neoplasms. The medical.examinations are appropriate in order to determine most effectively whether the health of employees is adversely affected by this exposure. t This approach may not necessarily be followed for other chemicals or physical agents where dose-response relationships ere better defined. .Standards may be established where medical examinations may .not be required below specified exposure levels exceeding zero exposure. Sincerely,