Document nk3VRZZr3ZNE4YjqZKDveZyG6

the NEW YORK TIMES. TUESDAY. TUNE 11 1972 ASBESTOS RUffiiGSl BED INADEQUATE Cancer Authority Says Many Workers Face Death By FELIX BELAIR Jr. tpd>l to York Ttom WASHINGTON. June 12--An authonty on asbestos-caused cancer said today that tens ofI thousands of workers exposed) to asbestos would die because Of inadequate regulations issued by the Government's Occupa tional Safety and Health Ad ministration. The prediction was made by Dr. Irving Seltkoff of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, ini a report to a meeting of thei industrial union department of: the American Federation of! Labor and Congress of Indus-1 trial Organizations at the or-< ganizanon's headquarters here.) Dr. Selikoff said that, if the' Federal agency showed the same disregard for essential safeguards and precautions in setting standards for other toxic substances as it demon strated in the asbestos regula tions, "we face an unparalleled disaster to the working people in our country " "The regulations speak bland-' hr of five fibers per milliliter [asl 'standard* but neglect to add that a working man In hales from four to eight million milliliters m an eight-hour day" he said. A milliliter, or cubic centimeter, holds about thimbleful of air. In a direct reference to As sistant Secretary of Labor I George C. Guenther, who heads I the safety agency. Dr Selikoff said, "Mr Guenther orders that workers exposed to as bestos in any trade are re used to work under contuons which permit them to inhale 20 million or even 30 million fibers in a working day." Mr Guenther made this statement after hearing of the doctor's charges "Dr Selikoff has chosen to overdramatize the matter There is no question that exposure to asbestos is most hazardous." "We believe " he said, "that the new standards will provide substantial and real protection for exposed workers and that they provide for reductions m levels of asbestos exposure that) are reasonable and in our] judgment, based on tests from many quarters." | Precautions Seen Ignored I Dr Selikoff, who has long! been engaged in research on1 the cancer-producing etiects of, asbestos and the incidence of, cancer of the lungs, abdomen I and colon, said "Almost everv| essential precaution that could I have been taken has been I ignored or discarded, m many| instances against the recoin-1 mendat.ons given to tne De-I partment of Labor bv the Pub-i lie Health Service's National In-, stuute for Occupational Safety- and Health [a branch of the< Department of Health. Educa-l lion and Welfare) or by its own advisory committee on: asbestos dust" . The asbestos standard issued by the Laoor Decrement' agency last week provided fori an exposure iunit of 2 fibers | per cubic centimeter of air but' said the present emergency standard of S fibers would con tinue until July, 1976. It also provided a maximum exoosure limit of 10 fibers per cubic centimeter for an eight-hour day. The institute had recom mended a maximum daily ex posure of 5 fibers. 72 Deaths From Cancer Dr Selikoff cited a study of 689 asbestos production and textile workers from January 1. 1959, to December 31. 1971 He said that it showed 72 deaths from all types of can cer compared with an "ex pected rate" of 27 8 for the population as a whole. From cancer of the lungs, pleura, trachea and bronchus, there were 35 deaths, compared with an expected rate of 8 4 for the population generally. In addition to the 72 cancer deaths, there were 24 fatali ties traceable to scarring of the lung. This malady is found only among asbestos workers i the doctor said There are about 500.000 Americans currentlv or previously employed on asbes tos work. "If our exenences of the past several years are a guide. 100.000 will die of lung cancer. 35.000 of abdominal or chest cancer known as mesothelioma and 35,000 of asbestosis [scar ring of the lung) as well as many thousands more of other cancers, such as those of the colon, rectum and stomach. Dr Selikoff said.