Document kw1VQRqk77D651J3vYxExaG0

DANA CORPORATION VICTOR PRODUCTS DIVISION intra-companv communication . Workshop on Substitutes for Asbestos subject Sponsored by EPA/CPSA July 2 5, 1980 to Parker B. Field cc: J. Shaner Sheraton National Hotel Arlington, Virginia July 14, 1980 . .' . Nine categories of materials that used asbestos were discussed regarding availability of substitutes. '' . Friction Products . - Exact substitutes not available technically. . Gaskets arid Packings .. . - - Packings being converted. Gaskets have economic drawback. Technically feasible. ' . Plastics ) Flooring - Converted. - 15% of VAT Is asbestos arid.ls being converted. Roofing - Asbestos out - glass In. . Pipeline Wrap - - Substitutes available. Textiles . - Substitutes available, but more costly. ' Sealants & Caulks . - Not'a major problem, but adds to expense. Asbestos - Cement sheet and pipe. ' - Substitutes available. - From.this description, it Is apparent, everyone Is moving away from asbestos I. and nothing said at session will stop that trend. - The.depth of-technical background on the vatious products was poor. As most of the presenters "pitched" rather than presented their products. A number of our suppliers and competitors attended the sessions. There were over 800 attendees about half of which were government regulators. .. .. .continued VPD-188-0000364 DANA-0326.65 Workshop on Substitutes for Asbestos Sponsored by EPA/GFSA ' July 2 5> I960 ' page 2 . I was made aware of several new raw materials in the presentations and ordered samples of these. '' A round table discussion on gaskets and packings was held and 30 people attended. Again,-most were suppliers of some type of asbestos free raw materials or product. H. & V., DuPont, Celanese, Union Carbide, Celotex, - Rogers Corporation, Vellumoid, Green Tweed and G.A.F. were present. I bugged the director of Research and Development at G.A.F. about their performance, and J hope he got the message that they could not expect to . remain our dominant supplier the way they were going. For the record, I expressed the view that asbestos free materials were available.for the majority of applications but that exceptions did exist that had no known technical solution and time. Three years would be required to resolve these problem areas. .' The last day and a half of the program^ Was devoted to the health aspect of the asbestos substitutes. My conclusions are: Man made fibers are very safe. AU non-flberous materials are safe except for those found Lri natural areas highly contaminated with asbestos. Flberous. materials found in nature are very sus pect due to contamination with asbestos and some very poor health , histories. Each type of natural fiber has to be analyzed oh Us own. This part of the meeting was technically the strongest, and the questioning-was grueling. In addition, foe best heads in the U.S. participated. I was im pressed with the output of these meetings, and feel much more comfortable addressing the health aspects of bur products. ' I will discuss my recommendations for action at the January 24th staff meeting. Attached is a list of the speakers at the program. . az (attachment) John Zeitz' VPD-188-0000365