Document jykL7KaBOGvBkz3peyyaeJ8ZQ

FILE NAME: Union Carbide (UC) DATE: 1973 May 22 DOC#: UC246 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Union Carbide Internal Letter from Medical Dept to Legal Dept RE Calidria Asbestos Study - Contesting Company Interpretations iB S ii iS CARBIDE internal correspondence UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION To (Name) Ojvision vocation opy to M r. R obert F . X. F u sero t-aw D epartm ent 47th F loor D ate O riginating Dept, Answering letter date Subject 270 PARK AVENUE, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10017 M ay 22, 1973 M edical D epartm ent D ear M r. F usaro: * We have carefu lly studied ^ ^ M ining i, M etals D iv isio n . ' S a ta lls . T he stu d y w as divided in to a seven page rep o rt and a six pace slide page slide presentation. Both w ens v e ry w el, done and re p re se n t tnueh study on the p a r, of the au th o r. Howpvv lh ' S' em " d i fer *" " in te r p r e ta tio n o f t e r a t u r e a s p r e s e n te d . G oing th r o u g h th e s e v e n Da j ' 6 Ven Pa 8e stu d y , "T he bafe Use of C alidria RG -244" ,, . o m p a rin g it w ith the NIOSH c r ite r ia docum ent fo r ashest e sto s, p arag rap h hy p arag rap h , we find these v ariatio n s in in terp retatio n s. Section 2. A sbestos Toxicology, p, r ag raph 2 . ' to no*sa U u is im portant ' hOW' V e r- " -- . an d s t a t i s t i c a l e x c e s s o c c 7z i t c carcinoma ,iun8 the tw " >'* -- rela ted d tse a se s, have o c c u rre d only in w o rh ers w ith iong te rn , to m assiv. g term exposures C o n c e n t r a t i o n s O f asbestos dust. The rish of this t ^ of exposure is usually asb esto s raille8 and m lUs ^ ^ operations. . . " m o SH m , &rge m aaufac tu ring 1N1UPH I I I - 7 r e p o r t s "a n..w,K - " Umb' r 0f ' d e , ex p erien cin g UCC 014310 Mr. Robert F. X. Fusaro -2- May 22, 1973 `" ' " e interm itte"` -- suspect" and "positive x . ,, y fln d l"g am 0 " 8 indiVldUal8 e n s u r e s to asb esto s as s h e a s one day". IH -8 sa y s, ,,T h i, cess of ^ ^ ^ . d em o n strated am ong those w o rk ers w ith jobs which entailed heavy e x p o s u re s ir r e s p e c tiv e of th e d u ra tio n of em p lo y m en t. " H I - , g ,,In ' 9 6 3 , B a l z e r am i C o o p e r r e p o r te d a s h e s t o s i s a m o n g in s u ia tio n w o r k e r s exposed at le vels not exceeding the tim e-w eighted average of 5 m ppcf.". 0 1 1 -2 1 , NIOSH s ta te s . . recen t unpul)Uehed ^ B a ..r, k Thom as com piled data from the P ennsylvania D epartm ent of H ealth 8 o n e x p o s u r e le v e ls a t v a r io u s te x tile p r o c e s s in g o p e r a tio n s in tWo plants. T he data included dust concentrations from 1,30 through 1 ,6 , m one plant and fro m 1,48 through 1,68 in the . a 8 1,68 m the second plant. E ven though controlled exposures w ere fnr _ P w ere for th e m o st p a rt below 5 m ppcf and in m any c a s e s b elo w th e 1968 A r r m ivt a.- c 968 ACGIH N otice of Intended Change to 2 m ppcf. 64 c a .e s of a s b e s to s !, w e re re p o rte d fro m th e se two asb e sto s te x tile p lan ts. a u th o r, conclude that: "If a sh e sto sis is to be prevented, airb o rn e dust m u st be strin g en tly controlled in the w orking en vironm ent." 111-22 d e l u d e s . " C h a m p io n 's tw o c a s e s s e e m to . ses seem to support e a rlie r - r cases with re" has this t " Cermng the " ek d" e l * 8 ay n p a fie s 18 a n d y shott m inin8 " d m `U ing' the m SH docum ent of S ectio n III: nTh ih e a "th o rs (M cDonald UCC 014311 Mr. Robert F. X. Fusaro -3- May 22, 1973 . t .1) concluded .h a, the additional data supports o( ^ -- th at even heavy exposure * asb esto s in m ining and m illing c a rrie s m odest risb of contracting lung cancan and le ss stlll'o f contractiag t t m e" 7 ; ,h" S m a' " A other " " *ed -- n n , 9 -- -- TM fe n c e s , " " in " " * miUS ^ " "* * - h e r s , specifically 10 `" U lati n P e r a ti0 n 5 - the question w as Still unreso lv ed . In co n tra st to p o p u latio n . ' .. . populations exposed to m ixed en v iro n m en t,, those engaged in the m ining and m ilUng o( asb esto s " I1Ders show ed no au m en tcH frequency of bronchogenic can cer. " NIOSH con clu d es "Although it h a s be - g it has been suggested that the risk s asso ciated w ith asb esto s exposure m ay be le ss _ p e r a t io n s , a d d itio n a l s tu d y w ill hi* h ,, y ,U ^ b a s e d upon th e c o m p a ris o n m a d e b y S e lih o f f .. in m ini " m iIung than in in d u strial uunfirn, i, such is tru e ' o. ..... ,, . ,, o .,, ,,,, ^ ~ - ~ . . ............. * ~ . . . . sp ecifically com m ents on the v ery low lev els e tim e v tim e-w eighted average. encountered in this work on a lB w h. COMi" Ue " " *h e > - A s b e s to s T o x ic o lo g y , C " " S,1,ed th a t ChrySOtUe 1Sb' Stos no. cause an excess of m e s o th e lio m a s . NIOSH in V - l .a y s ..T h e c The consum ption of asb esto s in th is UCC 014312 iH, * \ / \ ir- oG Mr. Robert F . X. Fusaro -4- May 22, 1973 country is overw helm ingly in the for, , ' g y m the form of ch ry so tile. W here other form s of asbestos a re used SUCh M CrOCid U*e an d a m o . i t . , th e y " * f* ' " !`ed ^ r y t o t i l e and a Pe e n c o u n te r e d a W *. , . red alone' m ainly in re search a n , sp e c ia lty situ a tio n s. ,, It ,, the predominaM opinloil of ^ -- ,,ity that an e n e e s. * m e so ,h e,lom a is found in w orhera ,, (he ' asb esto s in d n etry in the United S tates. SeCti n " P 8 e ' ` " " "d *h ' - t e m e n , m u ,, be polM ed on, tha, a c le a t p ic o te of the tel.M o n .h ip betw een the type of a .b ..to . and the p to d n e tio n o i a . b e . , o s is , n e o p la sm s , an d m e s o ,h e iio m a e is ,,ot defined m the exposures rep o rted . " d e s c r i b e s "in TTT O') crib e s m IU-22 a case of m esotheliom a o ccu rrin g ' h ic h it w a s b e lie v e d th a t h e w a s e x p o s e d o n ly to c h r y s o ti le ' C o n tin u e ,0 p arag rap h of A sb e .to . X onicology. w here it . . y . F inally, th e re is no evidence th at th aw general public is in any danger from the am ount of asb esto s fiber in th * * . , th e c o m m u n ity a i r . T h e U. S. N a tio n a l A c a d e m y o f S c ie n c e s t a t e , in a n O c to b e r 1 9 7 ,Dub,. .. ' I971PnbIication, "A ebestos- T h . Need F o r and F e a s i b l y oi A ir PoU utm n Co,,t r ,,I t , "At p resen t, th e re is no evidence ,h ., .a ,h the smaI1 num ber of fib ers round m m ost m em b ers nf w . g en eral population affect health and longevity " su m ,t that these statem ents a re not p recisely ,h P recisely the sam e. UCC 014313 V3DQ7 M r* Robert F. X. Fusaro -5- May 22, 19 7 3 In s ction I n , p ag e 2 3 , NfOSH s ta te s " , . . how ever so m ay be raised of a n. 6 <lU ei,ti n M* " ' `Shborhood e x p o su re even it it ,,m going to w ork. T he p o ssib ility o f . y o i such exposure m u st kn * m y concerned . of the neighborhood c a se noted h c aSe noted by Selikoff. " co n sid ered in view In S e c tio n 3 o f "Th* C ei Tt The Safe Use of C alidria" discussion of the me * he m e a ning of the phrase 'W m . aSraPh 3, th e re is ad v ice ia g iv en to foil t, ** asb '* t ". and the ,OW ' he NIOSH e m e n d a t i o n ,h a , ,, -- "average expoenrea aboye one fibor p ar cc o r k ^ " h ' " 0 *'' fiv e f ib e r s p e r cc T v v. Peak expo8ure above * ThlS h a s no v a lid ity ; th e n q MA ^ m ean "regular ^ ^ Ie g U la tio n *" i n t e r p r e t e d a s b e s to s a s * USual parfc o f & ^ ^ * * j b ' r e*POure to e g u la r jo b a s s ig n m e n t" t >. ' num ber of fib e rs b e a d e d below ,, h ic j T . ' ** * stipulated procedures if such a ^ ^ t0 f llo w a11 th e -- m gg ivvee ttbh iies iinn ff o r m a tio n ^to c u s t o mOCeCr ,U.' " ~ ~ In S ection 4 u p - t j , ' Calxdrxa R G -244 in o i - - the sam pling and c f ^ P g and counting w ere done by r e a i.t ,, E ngineers: if they w ere n o ,.th en the re s u lt, w M ^ * * "" acceptable to any rem ilat ^ " ` * * li k e ly * *> gU lat0ry * * . and we would not co n trary im p ressio n to a cu sto m er. ~ T . fion 5 - S ilica Toxicology, d o c u m e n t o r th e OSHA r e g u la tio n R C -24- - This ' " " *> NIOSH p > f "Safe H andling of .C alid ria. UCC 014314 & oO S$ M'- Robert F - x. Fusaro -6- Way 22, 1973 In SeCti n 6 ' O u C ontrol w ,, u sh o u id * ~ ~ - - . ".H a,, b. a,,d *" a c c o r d a n c e w ith th e A m c . f u n d a m e n t a l s G o v e rn in g th e D e s ig n tx Q ^ ' v* * u *ti~ - ' T * - ' **"- ` ^ , P a r e t o rent r TM citation and penalty. ? ^ " 0,L 0C alE 5iha" **S- - . ^ 8tandard would l ead to Slide 3 - this is m isleading. Slide 4 - " fa" m ay be `he allow able nncentration and "m any" m ay be a few C b r y s o tile 18 n o t a n u r less. Slide 5 - m as ` m a ss iv e long tei-r lm P<>*an. d istin ctio n , g m exposure to asbestos ha a sbestosis and cane ca8ed C an cej-' but so h a v e so m , short term * 6 l0W le v e l . erm exposures- thi thlS 18 a b a lftruth m isleading. ' and 18 S lid e s 7 th r o u g h 10 _ a.*, .. " the d iscu ssio n of th* . 18 in t e r e s tin g but i r ^ , * the varie tie s of a*k afib esto s lrre le v a nt to the fact that an Produce disease. R e tie s Slide H _ we a r e -dis CUSSi g cb r y s o tile : tactic. th is 18 a d iv e r s i o n a r y G* UCC 014315 Mr. Robert F. X. Fusaro -7- May 22, 1973 S lid e 12 - a d v is e d e le tin g " s t r o n g " f r o m th e f i r s t s e n te n c e . F ive cases did o ccu r, and this is likely to be . consid ered an ex cess fo r a group of 9304 em ployees. D r. Selikoff has studied the John M anville m anufacturing plant in New J e rs e y a s w ell as th e in su latio n w o rk e rs. Slide 20 - m o n ito ring and re c o rd keeping re q u ire m e n ts a re stipulated in the regulation, including m ethods and frequency of m onitoring. T hese requirem ents stay in fo rce no m a tte r how good the com pliance is o r how long it continues. S lid e 21 - th e m in im u m m e d ic a l ex am in atio n s re q u ire d a re m ore extensive and specialized and frequent than those generally perform ed in industry, and th erefo re m o re ex p en siv e. T he s ta te m e n t about NIOSH reco m m en d in g "exposed to asb e sto s" to m ean "av erag e exposures above one fib er p e r cc" is obsolete and should be deleted. The OSHA re g u la tio n does not s a y th is: th ey m e a n a re g u la r exposure to any a sb esto s. T h ere is no point in speculating o r showing a slid e of n atu rally o ccu rrin g outcrops of a s b e s to s . UCC 014316 Mr. Robert F. X. F usaro -8- May 22, 1973 Slide 25 - It is th e o re tic ally p o ssib le to sl>ip, .to r e . Q uestions " USe " beS tM W i t W .o the environm ent " W " any actually m anage to do its . TM s giib statem ent m ak e. a difficult Job seem sim ple. The statem en t "M ore is probably knov, n about ^ . potential health hasards of asbestos and the propei m ean, for controlling or elim inati ng them than would he the case with possible snbstitnt e m aterials. i8 certain ly debatable: and is clearly not tru e universally. W asn't the A cadem y of Science guote reg ard in g fib e r, foond m ost m em ber, of ,a . ound " and w ater? the general population ra th e r than a s h .,to , >s m a i r D r' S elik " ' S WOrk ** '>* lim ite d to a " v e r y I lm -t ,, f w orkers, none of whom w ere exoo ,, " " i group m w ere exposed only to chrysotile" . d o n 't fo rg e t c h ry s o tile ........ ... ` A d lm P an tly , causes disease. Very truly yours, UCC 014317