Document jgn9z4ajx3XVZ0nnBLOwo1mpZ

FILE NAME: Drywall Spackling Compounds (DWSC) DATE: 1977 Dec 14 DOC#: DWSC035 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Letter from Union Carbide to the Consumer Products Safety Division UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION METALS DIVISION H.O. B O X 579 -4625 R O Y A L A V E ., N IA G A R A F A L L S . N EW Y O R K 14302 UC.U * L : t December 14, 1977 R. David P it t le Consumer Products Safe ty Commission 1111 - 18th S tre e t, NW Washington, DC 20207 Dear Commissioner P it t le : Although we are aware th a t the Commission has moved to p ublish a ban on the consumer use o f jo in t taping compounds containing free-form asbestos, we wish to re ite ra te fo r the record our contention that the fin d in g of "unreasonable ris k " is not supported by the a v a ila b le evidence and we question whether "due process" was properly ap p lie d in th is case. During the Commission's consideration of the ban, the Union Carbide Corporation has provided exten sive te ch n ical data on the exposure to free-form asbestos fib e r during the use o f these m a te ria ls. These data have included: 1. A presentation and a n a ly s is o f a l l o f the commercial use data a v a ila b le in clu d in g data from a number of OSHA compliance in sp e ctio n s. 2. Detailed stu d ie s o f a la rge and a small consumer in s t a lla t io n o f d ryw a ll. I t should be noted these were the only exposure data presented during the proceedings th a t bear d ir e c t ly on the ban in question. The Union Carbide work was checked by two independent lab o rato rie s and there is c e rta in ly no reason to doubt the le v e ls found in the OSHA compliance in sp e ctio n s. In s p ite o f t h is , your s t a f f has continued to quote an a n a ly s is of r is k based on exposures found in one commercial study of only 30-60 minutes duration that was conducted at vaguely defined operating co n d itio n s. Th is la t t e r study showed exposures th at were much higher than a ll of the other re su lts in clu d in g the OSHA d a ta . The s t a f f also based i t s estim ate on an assumption o f four extensive consumer exposures over the period o f a year. While we have no o bjection to th is as a maximum case, provided the appropriate exposure le v e ls are used, r is k s are also quoted fo r fiv e years o f exposure at the same time. This number of exposures is fa r beyond th at which can be expected fo r consumers. In view of the sta tu to ry requirement fo r a showing of "unreasonable r is k ," we fe el i t is extremely important to draw these points to your a tte n tio n . In the in s t a lla t io n o f d ry w a ll, three successive a p p lic a tio n s of taping compound are made about a day a p a rt. The compound, when d ry, may be sanded a fte r the second and th ird a p p lic a tio n . On th is b a s is , two extended exposures can occur during the complete f in is h in g , or extensive rem odeling, of a f u ll room. The four exposures over a year used by the s t a f f in th e ir r is k a n a ly sis thus co rre - - 2- sponds to fin is h in g two rooms. Although th is extent of exposure i s not by any means experienced by the e n tire population of the country, i t appears to be a reasonable upper lim it fo r estim ation purposes as long as i t is recognized as such. The fu rth e r extension of th is to the f iv e years cite d would correspond to consumer contact with a c tiv e fin is h in g operation fo r about ten (10) rooms. Exposure o f th is extent is so rare that is is not rele van t and should not be used in the estim ation o f r is k . Let us assume th at the four exposures in a year are taken as co rre ct and that Bayard m odification o f the E n te rlin e model is a ls o accepted. The excess r is k estim ate of 10 deaths per m illio n over a 40-year period presented by the s t a f f assumes an 8-hour time-weighted average exposure of 10 fib e rs/ c c >5y. This is based on a te s t where an u n id e n tifie d number of p ro fe ssio n a ls conducted poleand handsanding fo r about 15 minutes each, mixed an undefined amount of dry compound, and dry swept under unspecified co n d itio n s. The handsanding exposure, which is the procedure used by consumers, averaged 5.3 fib e r s / c c , but much higher le v e ls were present fo r short periods during m ixing and sweeping so the higher le v e l was assumed. The 15-minute exposure le v e l was also assumed to occur over a f u ll e ig h t hours which is fa r longer than occurs in consumer use. The value o f 10 fib e r s / c c >5y fo r e igh t hours is c le a r ly much too high and, in fa c t , is not even supported by the handsanding data of the work upon which i t is based. The OSHA compliance in sp e ctio n data presented to the Commission showed a range of 0.1 to 4 fib e r s / c c during sanding and 0 .6 -2 .7 fib e r s / c c during cleanup. Using the highest values found fo r two hours o f sanding and o ne-half hour of cleanup, which is a reasonable approximation of consumer operations, and a value of 0.5 fib e r s / c c in the room during the remainder o f the day, the e ig h thour time-weighted average becomes 1.5 fib e r s / c c >5y. The Bayard model p red icts a r is k of 0.0016 excess deaths over a 40-year period per m illio n persons exposed. I f the consumer data fo r the in s t a lla t io n of dryw all in a la rge room are used, the eight-hour time-weighted average is only 0.2 fib e rs / c c >5y. The corresponding r is k fo r the fin is h in g o f two rooms over a year is something le ss than 0.0000001 excess deaths per m illio n over a 40-year period. A p p lica tio n of the values o f 0.0016 per m illio n estimated from the OSHA compliance inform ation and the value of le s s than 0.0000001 per m illio n predicted from the actual consumer exposure data to the present U .S. population of about 250 m illio n persons y ie ld s ca lcu la te d excess deaths of 0.4 and le ss than 0.00003, re s p e c tiv e ly , over a 40-year time span. I t should be noted p a r t ic u la r ly that the value of 0.4 is based on the maximum not the average exposure values reported by OSHA, and the assumption that the e n tire population is exposed at th is maximum le ve l during su b sta n tia l in s t a lla t io n o f drywall in two rooms. To the extent that these conditions are not met, the r is k would be le s s . The Consumer Product Safe ty Act requires a fin d in g o f an "unreasonable r is k " as a b asis fo r the banning actio n by the Commission. The fo llo w ing lis t in g of U .S. deaths from vario u s causes is provided fo r reference: - 3- Type of Accident or Cause U.S. Deaths* Bites and S tin g s 53 (1974) Lightning 112 (1974) Su ffo catio n by Food Ingestion 2181 (1974) Poisoning in the Home 4300 (1975) F ire s in the Home 5100 (1975) F a lls in the Home 8400 (1975) *From 1976 e d itio n of "Accident Facts" published by the National Safety C o u n cil. As discussed above, the highest excess o f r is k estimate from the 0SHA exposure data was 0 .4 a sb e sto s-re la te d deaths over a 40-year period. Th is is almost 300 times le ss than the chances o f being stru ck by lig h tn in g in a s in g le year and approximately 5,000-20,000 times le ss than the annual r is k from such common consumer hazards as food in g e stio n , po isoning, f ir e s and f a l l s . We submit that the r is k from consumer exposure to asbestos during jo in t taping is not an "unreasonable r is k " w ithin the meaning of the sta tu te . The evidence a v a ila b le to the Commission co ntradicts rather than suppors the fin d in g that such a r is k e x is t s . Very tru ly yours, HBR/rmm J. F. Collins Vice-President